


Shanshu with You

by Cuppatea13



Category: Bones (TV), Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: All Human, Alternate Universe, Bangel - Freeform, Booth is Angel, Booth/Buffy, Buffy and Angel Reincarnated, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Very Minor, except the mental kind, i'm not an angst person, in which Bones is the alternate universe, maybe minor angst, no demons, no memories of Sunnydale, with flashbacks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-03-24
Packaged: 2018-03-14 21:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 43,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3425990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cuppatea13/pseuds/Cuppatea13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The PTB pulled their heads out of their...ahm. Anyways, Buffy and Angel, having fought & saved the world, were allowed to die & be born again in a world where, while they would fight, they would also be together, and the fights would be on a...slightly smaller scale. Like, Washington D.C. sized. Their lives are different now, without gypsy curses or demons, but there are still some things that will always be the same: there is a darkness in the world that must be fought, life brings with it pain that doesn't heal cleanly, and, most importantly: their love is forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's Elizabeth, Actually

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is largely the product of insomnia and heavy inspiration from ff.net's buffy4angel73's "Family Guy" one-shot. I think the summary sums it up nicely, so I hope you enjoy!
> 
> To recap the episode: An SUV explodes outside a cafe, killing several civilians. When Dr. Brennan confirms the identity of the deceased driver to be the leader of the Arab-American Friendship League, the authorities suspect the man to be a terrorist.

Dr. Temperance Brennen waited patiently outside Booth’s front door, listening as the footsteps on the other side drew closer and closer. Booth’s place was not what she had expected from the typical Alpha-male Special Agent. It was an actual house, still in the city, but a bit farther from the center than most of her acquaintance. There was a small garden in the front yard, and she could see the top of a tree peeking over the roof of the house when she had pulled up. It was a quiet street at this time of night, but there were plenty of houses with lights still on in the front window, and this one was hardly distinguishable from the rest of the houses on Revello Drive, except for the door being painted a bright blue. No doubt, it was another expression of Booth’s quiet rebellions, like his socks or belt buckle.

 

Booth opened the door just as she was musing if he bothered to add quiet rebellions to the interior of his house as well, or if he felt comfortable enough to realize that they were unnecessary in his own domain.

 

“Bones,” he said with some surprise, his eyebrows lifting.

 

“Yeah,” she confirmed as she studied him- he was barefoot, wearing sweatpants and his shirt was unbuttoned. Presumably she interrupted him half-way from changing out of his work clothes.

 

“Did we have an appointment?” he asked with some confusion.

 

“No,” she explained as she handed him the file she had been holding, “Uh…it’s him. Masruk is the bomber.” She began to think again on the wife, who had been so adamant that her husband was not a terrorist.

 

“I guess the wife didn’t know the husband very well,” Booth echoed her thoughts.

 

“Seeley, who is it?” a voice called through the house.

 

“It’s work, Dr. Brennen,” Booth responded as a woman walked into the front room where Brennen and Booth had been talking.

 

“Oh, sorry to interrupt then. Do you have to go back in?” Temperance took a long look at the woman- she was short, approximately one hundred and sixty centimeters, petite, and Brennen would put her age at around late twenties, maybe younger. She was also pretty in the standards of Western Culture, though her nose was a bit odd, with blonde hair and light hazel eyes with more green than typical.

 

“Looks like, we’ve got an ID on the bomber case.”

 

“Alright, well, I’ll put your plate in the microwave.”

 

“You sure you can handle dinner from here?” Booth asked with a smirk. _Teasing_ , Brennen realized, _he’s teasing her._

 

The woman, in turn, rolled her eyes, “I’m sure I can manage not to burn the house down at this point. Though I’m sure I’ll hear about how I don’t cook as well as you.”

 

Booth smirked again, and then turned back to Temperance, “I’m sorry, Bones, this is my wife, Buffy, Buff, this is Dr. Brennen from the Jeffersonian.”

 

Buffy ( _and what an unusual name_ ) stepped forward to shake hands with Bones. “It’s Elizabeth, actually. Buffy is an old nickname from school that Seeley won’t let die.”

 

The man in question shrugged unapologetically, “When I met you, you were Buffy, I’m attached to it. Buffy is who I feel in love with.”

 

“Buffy is whose pigtails you pulled,” the woman corrected, “Don’t try to romance your way out of it. Is he this bad at work as well?” Elizabeth directed the question at Brennen.

 

“Well, he doesn’t try to romance his way out of it,” was all Temperance could think to say, but the couple smiled and then Elizabeth waved an arm towards what Temperance assumed to be the kitchen, if the smells were any indication.

 

“He’d better not,” she jested, “Would you like something to drink?”

 

“I’ll go get changed,” Booth interjected, with a gesture to another part of the house, leaving Brennen alone with this wife in the front room.

 

“Oh, no thank you,” Brennen replied and then promptly worried about what to say next- she knew she was not the best at social situations even with people she knew well, let alone complete strangers.

 

Fortunately, Elizabeth seemed to be a talkative enough person that Temperance didn’t have to pick up much slack.

 

“Seeley’s mentioned that he’s worked with you the past couple weeks. He’s really very impressed with your methods, though he gets a bit huffy when someone else does parts of his job better than him. He’s competitive. When we went to school together we’d compete in everything- so I guess we’re both as bad as each other. Do you enjoy working with the FBI?”

 

“Oh, yes. I find it useful to be able to use my skills to help society put away criminals, though it does cut into my work for the Jeffersonian.”

 

At that moment, Booth returned, closing his cell phone like he just ended a call.

 

Booth turned towards the two women. “The Bureau just called- Santana said something about the bombing. Maybe, uh, you should come, Bones?”

 

“Sure,” replied the anthropologist, ready to get back to the case.

 

Booth gave her a small grin and turned to back to his wife, “I’ll try and be home soon, and you try not to ruin dinner.”

 

Elizabeth huffed and crossed her arms, “I haven’t ruined a meal in years and you still don’t let me forget it.”

 

“The same way you don’t let me forget how you beat me in the kickboxing unit in gym class every year. The price of having known me too long, babe,” he softly kissed Elizabeth before pulling away slightly to whisper to her, “See you later.”

 

“See you,” Elizabeth replied, “It was nice meeting you, Dr. Brennen.”

 

“Nice meeting you as well,” Temperance called back as she followed Booth out the front door.

 

* * *

“Okay,” Booth griped as they exited the elevator after arriving at the Bureau. “What is so funny?”

 

“I just never figured you’d be in a relationship,” Temperance explained as she chuckled a little more. It _was_ rather humorous, to her mind- the juxtaposition of Booth’s persona outside his home, and the reality of the married man.

 

“Why, do you think something’s wrong with me?” Brennen realized that the Agent was taking her entertainment the wrong way. She sought to clarify.

 

“Not wrong. You just have alpha male attributes usually associate with a solitary existence.”

 

“What! Me?” Booth shook his head, “You’re solitary.”

 

“No,” Brennen corrected, “No, I’m private. It’s different and we weren’t talking about me.”

 

“Well, I was.”

 

“Well, I wasn’t,” she returned easily, “Look, I’m happy for you,” she continued, trying to explain her mental process, “Relationships have anthropological meaning. Even marriage, though an antiquated ritual, had societal meanings that at one point made it essential for societal function. No society can survive if sexual bonds aren’t formed betw-“

 

Booth chose that moment to cut her off. “What the hell are you talking about?”

 

Before Brennen could further explain, Mickey Santana exited the office and walked up to the duo.

 

“Booth,” the other Agent began.

 

The man in question seemed eager for the change in topic, “Yeah.”

 

“You got that ID?” his superior asked, playing slightly with the file in his hands.

 

“Yeah, it was Masruk,” the anthropologist watched as Booth seemed to adapt his usual alpha-male persona that she had always associated with him. The better, she supposed, to lead with.

 

“Oh,” the other man sighed, “That’s too bad.”

 

“He killed four people and injured another fifteen,” Brennen felt the need to remind the Agent- it wasn’t like the man was the victim here. The context of Santana’s remark confused her.

 

Santana nodded slightly before handing a file to Agent Booth and continuing to speak, “The report came back from ballistics. Now, the explosives were placed under the car with the trigger connected to the odometer. Masruk was murdered.”

 

Now that the remark had context, Brennen peered at the file, “So Masruk wasn’t a terrorist.”

 

“Somebody tried to make him look like one,” Booth replied before turning again to Santana, “Any leads on who did it?”

 

The other man looked a little annoyed, “That’s why we’re paying _you_ , Booth.”

 

As Santana walked away, Booth gave a sigh, “Gonna be a long night, Bones.”

 

* * *

“She was having an affair!” Booth insisted the next day while he and Brennen ordered some food at Wong Foos.

 

Brennen was incised, “I’m sorry, but that’s an offensive assumption!”

 

“Well,” Booth retorted with a shrug, “All the signs were there.”

 

“You can’t make wild accusations on someone’s personal life based on a feeling!” Brennen insisted- there were no such thing as “signs” that someone was having an affair that you could pick up in an interrogation room. This sounded dangerously close to psychology.

 

“It’s more than a feeling,” Booth tried to defend his position, “Okay, that photograph is evidence just as solid as the markers you squints pick up looking at your little bones.”

 

Brennen felt he was now belittling her work by comparing it to this…psychology was really the only thing to describe it- he was using. “The evidence that I find isn’t empirical. What you consider evidence is merely conjecture.”

 

Booth began to list his reasoning, “She dyed her hair. She lost weight. You know how she shoved a little Botox in her forehead. She’s still feeling guilty over the last fight she had with her husband.” He shrugged as if to say that his words could only lead to one conclusion.

 

“Uhhhh!” Brennen searched for an appropriate insult but all she could come up with was: “You are an insufferable…arrogant… _man_!”

 

“Oh!” Booth immediately fired back, “So only a woman could know a woman. I thought woman wanted us to understand them.”

 

At that precise moment, Angela dropped onto the stool beside Brennen.

 

“Not really,” she inserts into the conversation casually, “A magician never wants to reveal her tricks…”

 

Booth gestured between himself and Brennen, “We’re having a private conversation.”

 

Angela airily waved her hand, “I’m not here.”

 

“So you think you know women just because you’re married?” Brennen immediately turned back to her original point, “Unbelievable.”

 

Booth scoffs and was about to continue before Angela jumped back in. “You’re married?” Her eyes lit up a bit, eager for more information.

 

“Yes,” Booth sighed at Angela, "Our anniversary is next April.

 

“Besides,” Booth continued, “It’s not about being a woman or a man- though the Botox isn’t something you see often in men. It’s _people_. Men and women aren’t that different. If I saw a widower who had recently dyed some of the grey out of his hair, started going to the gym, was dressing in better suits, I’d think he was having an affair as well.”

 

Bones shook her head, that sounded good in theory, but she doubted Booth practiced it in reality, she sought to get Angela on her side, “Booth thinks just because Masruk’s wife started working out and had a little make over, that she was having an affair.”

 

Angela hummed slightly before asking, “And how long were they married?”

 

“Eleven years,” Booth returned eagerly, seeking to recruit Angela to his own side. He was pretty sure she’d agree with him- she was more of a people person than Bones.

 

Angela immediately turned to her friend, “I’m with him.”

 

“There is no concert proof!” Brennen insisted once again.

 

“Boobs perkier?” Angela asked Booth.

 

“Mmmm hmmm,” the Agent directed at his food.

 

“I don’t believe this,” Brennen said, looking between the two of them, “If you’re so sure then why didn’t you confront her?” she interrogated Booth.

 

Angela, however, was the one who answered, “Because if she or her boyfriend were involved, she would warn him.”

 

“Very good,” Booth told the artist with some surprise.

 

Angela shrugged and offered a mysterious smile, “I’m a constant surprise.”

 

Brennen couldn’t handle this blatant disregard for actual evidence anymore, “Alright. Great. I will be in the lab getting us some real data.” And with that, she left the artist and the Agent to their meal.

 

“So,” Angela began, looking Booth up and down in a way Booth had seen Bones look at a skeleton. “Why aren’t you wearing a ring?” Angela asked, after examining his hands.

 

Booth sighed, clearly she wouldn’t leave him in peace until he gave her some tidbits, “I do,” he pulled out a chain around his neck, a man’s wedding ring hanging on the end of it, “I just don’t wear it where the bad guys can see it. Or where a sudden fight can potentially get my finger jammed with it still on,” he grimaced in remembered pain, “Not a fun feeling.”

 

Angela realized that was probably a sensible thing for an FBI Agent, but she perked up and continued her questionnaire, “What’s her name? Where’d you meet? Any kids?”

 

“Ha ha ha,” was all Booth would respond before turning back to his meal.

 

* * *

“Apparently, they met while still in school, and they’ve been married for going on sixteen years,” Angela informed the rest of the squint squad later that day, "got married when he was eighteen."

 

"Kinda child-bride-esque. Weird," Hodgins commented.

 

Zach’s eyebrows were pinched together as he asked her, “Should you be intruding on their lives like this?”

 

Angela was shocked he had to ask, “Oh yeah. Absolutely.”

 

Hodgins chose to insert something relevant to the case, “We’re negative for Lupus and Paget’s. When you’re done, I will do a scraping for environmental contaminates.”

 

Zach handed a petri dish of particulate to Hodgins, seemingly grateful for the shift in topic, “I found these. Shiny flakes that caught onto the torn patches of bone.”

 

Tired of their avoidance of the clearly more interesting subject, Angela continued, “Bottom line, I don’t think Brennan has a shot with Booth.”

 

Hodgins finally joined in her gossip, “But she said she’s not interested before. I doubt that’s changed because he’s got a secret wife.”

 

“Methinks the lady doth protest too much,” Angela returned, slightly concerned for her friend. Married men were not good men to have crushes on, she knew from experience. And Booth was straight-laced, so Angela was pretty certain sixteen years of marriage was not doing anything but moving on to become twenty, thirty, and fifty years of marriage.

 

Zach, however, had another opinion, “Maybe she protested just enough.”

 

“Puh lease,” Angela rolled her eyes at the boy’s ignorance. “She’s been sleeping alone for months. She has enough pent up sexual energy to power a small mid-western city. She just needs to direct it somewhere other than a married man.”

 

Hodgins continued work on the bomb case, “This looks like gypsum. That wouldn’t cause any organic damage. It’s probably used to insulate the explosives, bet the FBI doesn’t know that yet.”

 

Having figured the boys weren’t ideal gossip companions anyways, Angela decided to have some fun, “I’m gonna go check out this wife.”

 

Less than half an hour later, Angela was walking into a cafeteria and looking around her. She referenced the picture she brought with her again- on it was a small blonde woman with hazel eyes and a cute nose. The artist spotted Booth’s wife just across the room, sitting alone a table reading a magazine.

 

Angela casually bought some food and began walking past Mrs. Booth, before dropping her purse and spilling its contents all over the floor.

 

Elizabeth Booth immediately dropped down to help Angela, who struck up a conversation with the blonde, glad to see her plan worked to a T.

 

* * *

Half an hour and two cappuccinos later, Angela returned to the Jeffersonian with her news.

 

“Oh my god, Mrs. Booth might be my new favorite person,” she announced to the room, slightly hyped up on the afore mentioned cappuccinos.

 

“I beg your pardon?” Brennen returned, confused as to the context of this information.

 

Angela, thinking Brennen was feeling worried at her status as Angela’s best friend, sought to reassure the anthropologist, “I mean, she’s no you, honey, but wow- any girl who can down cappuccinos like that and gossip with me deserves an award of some kind.”

 

“You talked to her,” Brennen said in a daze, slightly in shock.

 

“Spent the lunch break together. She’s a counselor for troubled kids, and the FBI calls in her to help work when they have juveniles to be interviewed or processed, you know. And can I say? _Killer_ fashion sense. She helped me settle on what I should wear to my next date with Brad, the musician. We didn’t even talk about Booth, but that is one well-adjusted, happy woman. She had a magazine, a good lunch, and then was lucky enough to go out for cappuccinos with a lovely brunette with a great sense of humor.”

 

“She’s spying for you?” Hodgins’ shocked question was directed at Brennen.

 

Brennen was clearly embarrassed and protested.

 

Zach chose that moment to chime in with something that was, in Angela’s opinion, less than helpful, “Even if you have nothing in common it’s difficult to sublimate intense sexual attraction and we hear it’s been awhile.”

 

“Okay, stop!” Brennen attempted to retake control of her own lab.

 

Angela was not interested in discussing dead or death, so she continued on the topic at hand, “He’s a lucky man, I’m telling you. She’s got a phenomenal figure on top of it all.”

 

“Okay,” Booth’s voice came from behind them at that time, silencing them all, “I couldn’t get his medical records,” it was that moment he noticed the awkward tension before him. “What?”

 

* * *

The next day, Booth was trying to get Brennen to exchange theories with him on the possibility that the wife and her lover tried to kill Masruk to be together, “Ah, C’mon Bones. Just work with me here. Alright. It’s what we in the law enforcement call positing a scenario. Don’t use the word eschewed,” he requesting, referring to her earlier word choice.

 

Brennan decided that if they were going to talk about couples murdering each other to get out of marriage, she’d use the nearest example to hand, “What if you and Elizabeth were going to divorce and you didn’t want to?”

 

Booth was confused and a bit annoyed by the apparent change in topic, “Why would Buffy and I separate? We don’t want to separate.”

 

“Well I’m positing a scenario,” Brennen retorted, before continuing “Elizabeth wants to split up and you don’t want to so she poisons you.”

 

“That’d be difficult since I’m usually the one to make dinner but- this is not relevant,” Booth shook his head, unable to follow Bone’s thought.

 

“And then,” the anthropologist continues, disregarding the FBI Agent, “just to make sure she blows you up with a bomb.”

 

“Why would Buffy do that?” Booth questioned.

 

“Exactly,” since she felt her point was made, Brennen dropped it, “Thank you.”

 

Booth still was shaking his head, “See cause Buffy and I, that’s a bad example.”

 

Brennen didn’t understand why, “Well you’re a couple in love, right?”

 

“Of course we are, we’re married- but why do you keep bringing up my wife? I mean why? What’s the big deal? Is it so odd for you that I have someone in my life?”

 

Brennan found herself once again having to explain her logic, “We were talking about couples. It’s a natural segue.”

 

Clearly uncomfortable, Booth began to nitpick. “Alright, you know, you have to quit using the word segue and eschew. They sound French.”

 

Brennen nodded as if in understanding, “Keep changing the subject. I get it. You’re sensitive about your marriage.”

 

Booth still wasn’t quite sure what was happening, “I just don’t discuss my marriage at work. Why aren’t we talking about you and your boyfriend?”

 

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

 

“You just said that as though it’s a good thing and you know what?” Booth deflected onto the anthropologist, “It’s a very, very sad comment on your personal life.”

 

“Look,” Brennen gestured towards the Agent, “you’re angry again.” Luckily for Booth, Brennen’s phone rang, sufficiently distracting her while she answered. “Brennan.”

 

* * *

It was as the two were driving to the Hamilton Center in an attempt to keep Masruk’s brother Farid, the real terrorist, from blowing up a peace conference that Booth pulled out his phone and dialed.

 

“Buffy? Hey, babe, where are you? Oh, still at work? Ok- well, keep there if you can, there’s something going down right now.” He paused as his wife talked, “Yes, I promise to be careful. Yes, I will see you tonight for dinner. I love you too, Buffy. Bye.”

 

He pulled up the convention center just as he hung up. “Let’s go find our bomber.”

 

* * *

An hour later, Booth was wrapping up the case with Brennen at the Jeffersonian.

 

“You know I told them to tell the press is was an undercover operation,” the Agent said with a slight nod.

 

Brennan was a bit confused by his apparent egalitarianism, “But it would be a Rose Garden Ceremony. That’s an honor, Right? I thought you FBI guys loved your medals?

 

The FBI guy in question shook his head slightly before answering, “There’s no pleasure in taking someone’s life. Nothing to celebrate.”

 

Before Brennen could offer her own thoughts on Booth’s actions that day, he gave her a small smile and sighed, “I’m gonna head home now. I’ll probably get an earful from Buffy for worrying her. Best to get it over with. Have a good night, Bones.”

 

Brennen nodded as she watched him leave the building. She decided that maybe she finally had time for those WWI bones.

 

* * *

Booth unlocked his front door and took a deep breath. He could smell pasta sauce- one of the few things Buffy felt comfortable enough to cook on her own, and he smiled as he heard feet running towards him.

 

“Daddy!” a small voice shouted, before launching himself off the steps and into Booth’s arms.

 

“Hey, buddy, how’re you?” Booth replied, tucking the child under his arm and ruffling his hair, “Did you have fun with Aunt Willow after school today?”

 

“Awesome! I drew a dinosaur today- mommy put it on the fridge. Come see!” Letting the child wiggle out of his arms, Booth followed his son into the kitchen where he greeted his wife.

 

“Hi,” he sighed, before swooping down to kiss her.

 

“Hi,” she replied with a small smile.

  
“Daddy! Daddy, look!” the child intruded.

 

“Alright, Parker, let me see, wow- that is an awesome dinosaur! You did that all by yourself?”

 

The boy enthusiastically nodded his head, grinning at his father.

 

“Ok, young man,” Elizabeth cut into the boys’ bonding, “Go wash hands, dinner’s almost ready.”

 

The small boy was off like a shot, and Booth turned back to his wife. Wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, he buried his head in her neck and breathed deep.

 

“Thank you,” she whispered to him softly.

 

“For what?” he returned just as quietly, feeling the moment wrap around them like the soft blanket they kept at the foot of their bed that Parker used to crawl on as a baby.

 

His wife shifted herself in his arms, turning so she faced him, and placed a hand against his cheek.

 

“For what you did today,” she shrugged, “For doing what you’ve always done- being Parker’s hero and everyone’s protector. For being you.”

 

Booth sighed, “I killed someone today.”

 

She nodded, “You also saved more than one someone. There’s no black and white, Seeley. Just a whole lot of grey. But, you do the best you can, and the fact that it bothers you, that makes you a good man.”

 

Looking down at his wife, Seeley bent once more to kiss her.

 

“Ewww!” They were interrupted by a childish voice. Chuckling, the parents separated at their child’s protests to their sharing “cooties.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I took the street name from the Summer's house in Sunnydale- I'm not above sprinkling countless minor references into the story. Hope you enjoyed this first chapter- I don't really have this solidly planned out, so if there is something you'd like to see, or an idea you have, leave it in a review. If you don't have any requests, review anyways! I'd love to get an idea of how you guys feel. :)


	2. On the Steps of the School

The first time Seeley Booth ever laid eyes on Elizabeth “Buffy” Kemp was the second grade. She was in the first grade class down the hall from him and all the kids were running around in the recess yard. He thought she was awfully cute, sitting on the steps of the school eating a lollipop. Her hair was in two braids with little bows on the ends and her feet were tapping to something he couldn’t hear on the concrete steps.

 

Since he was a seven year old boy, who saw a six year old girl he thought was cute, he did the only thing he could- snuck behind her to pull on her pigtails.

 

This caused the small blonde girl to give a scream before turning around and smacking him clear across the face.

 

Which, of course, brought the teachers running over.

 

Seeley and Buffy were sitting in the classroom while the teacher talked to them both about appropriate behavior.

 

“Buffy, I know he hurt you, but you can’t just go around hitting people. It’s not very ladylike, you know.”

 

This was, apparently, too much, because the small girl stood up, and lectured both teacher and boy that being told that Seeley was excused from pulling her hair because “it just means he liked her” was the stupidest thing she had ever heard. Her daddy didn’t pull or hit her mommy because he likes her, she’s never seen any grown up boys hurt grown up girls because they like them and mommy once said to Aunt Sharon that when boys hurt girls because they think they like them the boy should be reported to the police for consensual aspen.

 

The teacher eventually figured out that the actual words Mrs. Kemp had used were “sexual harassment,” but Buffy wasn’t terribly concerned about the mix up and was now lecturing on her right to defend herself from people who try to hurt her.

 

Finally, she concluded, “if he liked me, he wouldn’t hurt me. You don’t hurt people you like. I like Mr. Gordo, and I never hurt him.” (Mr. Gordo was Buffy’s stuffed pig, which she had brought in for show and tell this week, though Seeley hadn’t known that at this point.)

 

The little girl single-handedly caused such a fuss, that her mother and, to Seeley’s great embarrassment, his grandfather were both called to the school.

 

“Buffy,” the teacher tried to placate, “Pulling little girl’s pigtails is just something little boys do sometimes.”

 

The blonde rolled her eyes, stomped her foot, and let loose a mighty huff of air before responding, pert nose raised to the ceiling, “Well, slapping little boys who pull little girls’ hair is just something little girls do sometimes.”

 

It was then that the guardians of these two children arrived, and Buffy launched her tirade again, explaining to both her mother and his grandfather why she had such issue with the whole situation while the teacher and Seeley merely sat and waited for the second wave to die down.

 

Buffy’s mother was in complete agreement with her daughter- while she didn’t think slapping was the answer (she recommended getting a teacher), she held that her daughter had every right to protect herself and that if “we let little boys pull girls hair now, where are we to draw the line? How are we to let them know that hurting girls isn’t OK when they’re teenagers, or when they’re adults? We’re teaching them their alphabet now, we should teach them respect now as well. Respect, not just for adults, but for people.”

 

Seeley’s grandfather was very apologetic to the Kemp women, and promised to have a talk with Seeley (and his younger brother Jared for good measure) when they all got home.

 

The first time he met Buffy, he pulled her hair and she lectured him at a high volume.

 

It was no wonder, therefore, that they should end up happily married.

 

No one could ever say Seeley didn’t learn fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I changed Buffy's last name (fun fact: "Kemp" is an English last name that means "champion/warrior"). Mostly because it seemed odd to me to have Angel get a completely new name and then have Buffy with the same exact name as before. Regardless- aren't those two adorable? I purposely had Buffy on the school steps with a lollipop when Seeley first sees here because they were destined and it's cute and I think that's just the sweetest thing ever. Hope you enjoyed- please review!


	3. Familiar With Your Face

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To recap the episode: A boy is found hanging from a tree at an exclusive private school, apparently having committed suicide. Things quickly become more complicated when the school attempts a cover-up.

Booth sighed and tried to rub the tension out of the back of his neck. This case was driving him up a wall. Suicide or murder? What happened to Nester Olivos? What was wrong with the kids at this school? Blackmail sex videos? Picking on a kid like Nester- that was just…so wrong. Booth was suddenly reminded how he wasn’t always exactly a champion for the underdog himself as a teenager and felt the knots in his shoulders tighten.

 

His phone rang and he picked up without looking at the caller ID, “Booth,” he answered, probably sounding just as tense as he felt.

 

“Well, that’s a nice way to greet people,” he heard his wife’s voice chime over the speaker.

 

The tension began to melt, “Buffy,” he sighed, feeling the stupid smile that people often accused him of having around his wife begin to form on his face.

 

“I was just calling to let you know that I’m getting off work early today so I’ll pick Parker up from Willow’s, but now I want to know what’s got you all grumpy-face.”

 

“You can’t even see my face,” he deflects on instinct.

 

“I don’t need to. I’m very familiar with your face. But you’ve got grumpy-voice and that means you’ve got grumpy-face, which means I’ll be getting nagging-wife-face soon if you don’t stop trying to distract me.”

 

Booth reflects that he really should’ve known better than to try and fool Buffy- she knew him too long and too well. He still isn’t always sure why he tries- probably some “misogynistic crap” (as Buffy would say) about protecting her.

 

“It’s just this case…let’s not ever let Parker go to a hoity-toity school like this.”

 

His wife is silent for a moment, “Did you just use the words “hoity-toity?”” her voice is incredulous and she begins to giggle. Booth found himself joining in, as he usually did when Buffy laughed- even when it was at him. She sobered after a moment and began again, “What’s really the problem? Because it’s more than just those kids being assholes.”

 

“You can’t call kids assholes.”

 

“Damn right I can. I’m a professional kid-wrangler. If I say they’re assholes, they are. Now stop dodging.”

 

He sighed and felt some of his tension coming back. Buffy always insisted on talking things out, even when he’d just rather leave them be and hope they’d fade away (he’d never admit it- but his wife had an unfortunate habit about being right with the whole “talking” thing).

 

“It’s just- I was remember what I was like at that age and-“

 

His wife cut him off, “Stop right there. I realize you’ve got your whole hero complex and that you make self-flagellation an art form, but I was there too, remember? Now, was I always a pinnacle of goodness?”

 

He sighed, “You were to me.”

 

“Seeley,” his wife warned.

 

“Ok- you might’ve gone through a… phase.”

 

“Exactly. Seeley, I love you, and everyone is entitled to messing up once in a while. We both messed up. The best we can do is learn from it, move on, and hope Parker can learn from our experiences.”

 

Booth found himself grinning at the reminder of his son, “And any other kids that come along.”

 

“Seeley,” her voice was again warning, but he heard laughter, love, joy, and a thousand other things behind it that made his grin widen even further, “Don’t you think we’re getting a bit old for babies?”

 

“Never,” he assured her, “You’re talking like we’re in our fifties. Besides, you look as young as-“

 

“If you say the day we met we’re going to have a problem since I was six at the time.”

 

“As the day I married you.”

 

“Nice save, Agent. Now, I’ll leave you in hopes that you don’t crucify yourself, but if you’re considering it, please remember that you’ve got a pee wee game to attend this weekend, so wait till next week.”

 

“I love you,” he whispered the words across the line- he’d said them thousands of times to her at this point, but every once in a while they’d come up and stun him like it was the first time all over again. She had a tendency of doing that, too.

 

“I love you, too,” she softened her voice to the same level as his, and he felt himself fall a little more in love with this woman, “I’ll see you tonight,” she continued at a normal volume, “Maybe you and Parker can do homemade pizza if you’re not too late at the office. Otherwise- I’m calling take out, because I’m _not_ cooking two nights in a row. I don’t think my boys’ sensitive stomachs can handle it.”

 

He laughed- his wife’s ineptitude in the kitchen had been an inside joke for over a decade now, and would likely remain so for several more. “You may have something there. Alright, I’ll try and wrap this up. I’ll see you tonight.”

 

“Tonight,” she returned, and then the line went dead.

 

Still, Special Agent Seeley Booth sat there for a moment, stupid grin lingering on his face, as held his own phone before finally closing it and getting back to work.

 

He had dinner plans tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was pretty short & sweet, but some of the future ones are getting to be about fifteen pages in length, so for those of you who want more- it's coming.   
> Thanks to everyone who's read & enjoyed- I love watching the numbers go up. :D   
> Please leave a review!


	4. A Favor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go with Chapter 4. Some reviewers on ff.net asked some questions, if you're interested, you'll find the answers on my Tumblr account because I didn't want to take up a whole lot of space here answering them (because, if you couldn't tell, I can't summarize for my life and that means long answers to short questions). Here's the link: http://cuppatea13.tumblr.com/tagged/Q&A or you can just go onto my Tumblr (Cuppatea13) & click on the "Asks Answered" button at the top.

 

When Buffy was twelve her parents decided to divorce. It was all very amicable and it was constantly repeated that the divorce had nothing to do with Buffy and everything to do with the fact her parents had grown apart as people and just weren't in love anymore, and they wanted to make it so they could perhaps fall in love again and be happy with someone else, it had nothing to do with Buffy.

"We love you, Buffy," her father had said while tucking some hair behind her ear, "And that will never change, no matter what. This is about your mother and myself, and we promise, that we are not going to drag you into this. We're going to settle everything so it's the best for everyone, especially you."

Buffy was perfectly aware why her parents were divorcing- it wasn't like she didn't see things. They didn't violently fight or argue or anything like she heard horror stories of in school, but her parents weren't really…a couple. It was more like being raised by two good friends than two people in love, she explained to Seeley.

"So you're OK?" was what he asked.

She rolled her eyes, a move that she'd been force to repeat often since meeting him, "I'm fine. I'm actually kinda happy about it- I mean, maybe one or both of them will fall in love and get remarried and then I can get siblings. Or even step siblings. Have to be careful with those, though. I don't want to get some evil stepsisters or anything."

"Siblings aren't that great," said the older brother as he remembered Jared ruining his football equipment earlier this week.

"You're biased."

"Whatever, I'm gonna hang up now and you go to Willow's and do your weird girly stuff."

"It's a sleepover, Seeley, not that weird. Besides, Xander is there- so it's not all girls."

"Harris counts- he spends all his time with girls anyways."

"And here I thought that was something boys wanted. I'll see you tomorrow, Seeley. Bye."

To Seeley's surprise, later that day he had a visit from a rather unexpected person.

Rupert Kemp was Buffy's father and he was, thus, rather daunting. Which is odd, because if it weren't for that fact, Seeley probably wouldn't have felt intimidated by the man at all. He was on the leaner side, had a habit of polishing the glasses he wore, and his daughter always talked about how very bookish and kinda stuffy he was. However, Seeley also knew from Buffy that Rupert would do just about anything for his daughter, and so having the man show up at his grandfather's place asking to speak to Seeley was worrisome, to say the least.

"Ah, Seeley, I wanted to talk with you."

"Yes, sir," immediately responded the thirteen year old- this was serious business. Buffy was his best girl friend and her father wanted to "talk" with him. Oh, boy.

"It's about Buffy, but I'm sure you already knew that. I wanted to ask you a favor, actually."

"Sir?"

"I'm sure Buffy's told you about the divorce and how she feels on it, probably more honestly than she's told her mother or myself, and so I wanted to just ask you to keep an eye out for her. The divorce has got Joyce and I rather tied up in various legal things at the moment and we can't give as much attention to Buffy as we'd like. You're a good friend of hers, one who I have a good amount of respect for, and I'd like you to look out for her."

There was a moment's silence as Seeley absorbed this before he decided that answering honestly was probably the best course here.

"I always look out for Buffy," he said as seriously as he knew how at thirteen.

Rupert Kemp gave a small smile, "Yes, I rather thought so. Be careful, though, if Buffy finds out she might throw a fit about men not understanding women can protect themselves."

Seeley's wide eyes and firm nod showed that he had heard that lecture often enough already, and Rupert gave a bit of a laugh.

"Thank you, though, Seeley. I'm glad Buffy has a friend like you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope everyone enjoyed that. Before anyone asks- yes, Giles is Buffy's father in this universe. I don't particularly like Hank, and considering Joyce's and Gilles'...car sex? fling? thing...during the Band Candy incident, I thought it was reasonable that, in another life, they'd come together and get married. I also don't think it would be a relationship that would romantically last. So they are divorcing. But! This will not be a repeat of the Hank Summers saga because Giles and his relationship with Buffy was one of my favorite things about BtVS so you can bet he will remain an involved father (which honestly was the reason I had Joyce & him together in this story- to make him fully Buffy's dad). The tone of the divorce between Giles & Joyce is different from Joyce & Hank because, again, different people. It's another lifetime. And that's that. Please, review if you have more questions or just to tell me what you think so far. Thanks!


	5. Pizza Rolls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To recap the episode: Dr. Brennan reluctantly joins Agent Booth to travel to Washington State, where a human arm was found inside the stomach of a bear. As Brennan identifies the man, she discovers that he might have been a victim of a cannibal.

When Booth entered his front door after returning from Washington, all he wanted to was to greet his family and sleep. Preferably with his wife next to him in their bed with the curtains drawn shut so he could ignore the sunlight and pretend he wasn't jet lagged in a big way.

However, that was clearly going to have to wait since 1) his wife was still at work herself and 2) his son was running around screaming while his Aunt Willow (usual designated babysitter for after school since she worked evenings) desperately tried to control the chaos.

"Daddy!" the creator of said chaos shouted as he launched himself at Seeley. Automatically scooping up his child, Booth gave a wan smile to Willow, who looked ready to drop. The enthusiastic greeting from his son did, however, sway the man a little so he wasn't quite so ready to go to bed and leave Willow to deal. This was his son, his and Buffy's, and he loved him more than life itself.

"Hey, Willow, he causing trouble again?"

The redhead who had been Buffy's best friend since the fifth grade gave a wry smile before responding, "No more than usual. Every once in a while Tara and I talk about adoption, and then I come here and suddenly it's like the urge vanishes," she joked, "Well, sometimes it comes back even stronger, but," she shrugged.

"You giving your Aunt Willow grief?" Seeley directed at his son who was wriggling something fierce. "You know, how are you going to get any more cousins if you don't convince everyone that kids are the best thing ever?"

"I've got cousins!" Parker shouted, "I've got Matt and Kristen and Sarah, they're my cousins."

Seeley sighed, and looked over at Willow, "We never should've let Xander breed."

Willow giggled, "You say that, but Kristen and Sarah have you wrapped around their fingers and Matt refuses to play football with anyone but you."

Seeley gave a sheepish shrug and released Parker, who was on the hunt for some other destruction to cause.

"How about a snack?" Booth quickly asked- the distraction of food would hopefully calm the boy down long enough.

"Can we make cookies?" Parker shouted as he ran into the kitchen.

"How about something a little healthier?" Willow asked as Booth replied, "Let's go with something a little quicker."

The two adults followed the small child into the kitchen and Seeley immediately began pulling out his supplies: some crescent rolls, cheese sticks, and pepperoni.

"Pizza rolls!" Parker shouted as soon as he realized what was coming. Willow and Booth both smiled and chuckled. What used to be their group's go to drinking food in college was now the snack they feed to their children. The irony was not lost on any of them.

The process was well-worn at this point, and any of the group (even Xander and Seeley- who were never particularly close and butted heads often) could seamlessly prepare the snack as a team.

"Buffy called earlier," Willow informed him as she began rooting around the cabinets for the garlic powder. "Said she'd try to get out of work as early as possible."

Seeley just gave the redhead a small smile, he wasn't going to lie and say his wife should stay at work- he'd missed her.

"How was Washington, anyways?" Willow asked as she put some leftover pasta sauce in a bowl to heat up in the microwave.

"Well, it was good weather, the town was small though, lots of people not too keen on strangers. And then there was the cannibal."

"What's a Hannibal?" Parker asked.

Booth and Willow exchanged a glance before cracking up. Parker, not sure why the adults were laughing, nonetheless smiled and giggled, pretending he was in on the joke.

"Well, what did I miss?" chimed another voice, causing Parker to launch himself out of his seat and into his mother's arms.

Swinging her boy into a hug, Buffy walked up to Seeley and smiled.

"Seeley."

"Buffy," he returned, feeling that stupid grin coming again.

"You two are going to do that forever, aren't you?" Willow asked.

"Do what?" Buffy asked her friend without looking away from her husband.

Willow shook her head, "Never mind, you'll never even notice. Parker- help me put the pizza rolls on a plate? Be careful, they're hot." His aunt subtly took Parker out of his mother's arms and made a shooing motion at the couple.

Not one to let opportunity pass him by, Seeley took Buffy by the hand and led her into the next room.

"How was-" but his wife never finished her question, because her mouth was…otherwise occupied.

With her husband's.

After some immeasurable (and meaningless) amount of time passed, Booth pulled away.

"Hi," he repeated, feeling his smile widen at the dazed look on his wife's face. Over a decade of marriage, and he's still got it.

"Hi," she sighed the word, still a bit disoriented.

"Pizza rolls!" they heard Parker's voice echo through the house.

"How good do you think our chances are of getting him to bed soon?" Booth asked his wife, pulling her closer in his arms.

"Considering it's 4 o'clock, I'd say not good."

"Damn. I was hoping to continue that hello in the bedroom."

Buffy gave him a light slap on his arm, "Seeley," she chided. "I think you'll manage till he goes to bed tonight. Besides, there's pizza rolls to be had. C'mon, and I'll make it worth your while," she whispered the last part into the place where his neck met his shoulder. Booth found himself grinning.

"I'll hold you to that."

Five hours later, after pizza rolls had been eaten, Willow had left for her own job, Parker had been entertained with tv as a reward for finishing all his homework, dinner had been made and eaten, and Parker had been bathed and tucked in, Seeley finally collapsed on his own bed.

He groaned. He did not have enough energy for Buffy to make anything worth his while. Not properly anyways.

As if his thoughts had summoned her, his wife walked softly into their room. Seeing him splayed out on their bed, she gave a small smile. She had figured on this happening. Seeley had jet lag on top of the typical exhaustion that came with caring for an energetic six year old, so Buffy walked up to her husband and began to undress him. Shoes and socks pulled of, belt undone, pants pulled down, shirt unbuttoned and pulled off, she then climbed up beside him and began to rub his shoulders.

Seeley gave a groan. "You keep doing that and I'm going to be unconscious in twenty more seconds."

"I'm counting on it," she teased, "You need to sleep, Seeley."

"But you said-"

"You telling me a nice massage isn't worth your while?"

He groaned again, "God, I love you."

"As you should, now be quiet and go to sleep."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked that! After all, who doesn't love Willow? Also, I adore Parker. Love a Buffy/Booth baby! Now, I'm having some trouble with the timeline because the show Bones itself isn't the greatest at keeping consistent with Booth's past. For example, in season 1 it's mentioned that Booth got out of the army and started working for the Bureau twelve years ago, but then Booth himself says that he was still in the Rangers and had to go AWOL to attend Parker's birth, though Parker was four at the time of season one. So, I'm basically going to make up my own timeline for things. Whatever.
> 
> Please, drop a review! I'd like to see what you guys think!


	6. You Like a Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, guys, I am currently working on the sixteenth chapter of this story. I may have an addiction to writing it. I need help. Or do I?

Seeley Booth realized he loved Buffy in a more-than-best-friends, more-than-high-school-crush, forever kind of way when he was fifteen.

To say he was shocked by the revelation would be a lie.

To say he was getting anxiety over it would not.

They were lying on the couch at her dad's apartment, spread out so that their limbs were tangled and they might've been in danger of falling off as they channel surfed. He looked over at her as she laughed at a particularly bad joke on some sitcom he couldn't remember and realized.

He loved her.

Had since he saw her on the steps of their school, sucking on that damn lollipop. He just hadn't known what the feeling was called.

But now what was he supposed to do? He couldn't  _tell_  her.

Buffy suddenly aimed a kick at his thigh.

"Seeley!"

"What?"

"For the fourth time- pass the popcorn."

"Oh, sorry."

"I didn't realize you found Judge Judy so captivating."

"Well, you know- this case is…interesting."

"They're talking about who gets ownership of their dog."

"I like dogs."

She aimed a look at him, a sometimes-I-wonder-about-you look, before rolling her eyes and turning back to the TV.

"I'm still changing the channel."

* * *

He avoided her for three days before she cornered him at school.

"Ok, what's your trauma?"

"Huh?"

"What is up with you? You've been avoiding me."

"No, I haven't."

"Yes, yes you have. And we didn't have a fight or anything and I hardly said something controversial so I have no idea why unless," she gasped, "oh my god."

Fearing the worst, he remained silent.

"You like a girl.  _Like_  like a girl. Oh my god. Who  _is_  she?"

"Uh…."

"Never mind, don't tell me. I'll figure it out on my own."

"Okay?"

"So, you're not avoiding  _me_  you're just trying to spend more time getting closer to  _her_. Oh, this all makes  _so_  much sense now. God, I was worried. But you idiot," and she gave him a light slap on the arm, "This is where having me for a friend comes in handy- I can give you advice! You're clueless on your own."

It was at this precise moment that he remembered his English teacher making some quote last week about faint hearts and fair ladies, and it was the moment right after that when he noticed her smile was just slightly too wide and the skin around her eyes was tight (which he knew meant she wasn't actually happy but was faking it- it was the same face he'd seen her making while her parents were divorcing before she had made peace with it).

He took a leap.

"Ok, how do I tell you that I can't stop thinking about how much I want to kiss  _you_?"

She was silent for a second but her jaw went slack and her eyes went wide before the smile he liked most burst out on her face like sun coming out from behind the clouds. The skin around her eyes crinkled, her teeth were on display and then it softened, as that smile always did, to an easier version of itself where her eyes were dancing and her lips came together and one corner of her mouth was just ever so slightly higher than the other.

"That's a pretty good start," she said, before her eyes darted away and her chin tucked down and her face tightened in the way that it did when she wanted to burst out into a huge, goofy grin but was trying to play it cool.

Or maybe that one was his favorite smile.

"So where do I go from there? You promised me advice."

"Well, I'd guess you'd have to ask me on a date. A real one. Not the same thing we do every other time we hang out."

"Well, I think I could do that. Buffy, would you go on a date with me? A real one?"

Her eyes came back up to meet his and  _that_ \- that  _right there_ -  _that_  was his favorite smile.

Or it would be until he saw the smile she gave him on their wedding day.

And then that would be replaced years and years later by their son's toothy grin whenever she made Parker laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These two are literally the cutest thing I know. Seriously- how do they do it? This is probably why I easily managed to write sixteen chapters in about five days. Hope you guys are enjoying the story thus far, please drop a review!


	7. Lost Boys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To recap the episode: A six-year-boy's remains is found near a shopping mall and when he is confirmed by Dr. Brennan to be the same boy who went missing from a local park, Booth and Brennan's team work together to find his murderer.

It was 9:30 when the phone rang. Elizabeth had been watching the a movie, something to unwind from a long day filled with lots of teenagers and their angst before coming home and dealing with a small boy and his energy, and she reached for the phone without taking her eyes off the screen.

"Hello?" she said, eyes still watching Julia Roberts flirting with Richard Gere, but she shut the TV off completely when she heard her husband's voice.

"Hey, it's me."

It wasn't as if the words were alarming in anyway, but she had known Seeley for most of their lives, and had been in love with him since childhood, and she knew that tone of voice.

Whatever case he had caught, it was a bad one.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Could I talk to Parker?"

Oh, god, it was a kid. The case- something horrible had happened to a kid. Parker was fast asleep in his bed, but Seeley needed this, damn it, and it wasn't like Parker was going to complain about talking to his daddy.

"Of course, lemme get him."

She went down the hallway to their son's room, and opened the door. The room was lit softly from a small nightlight that Parker denied he still needed but wouldn't go to sleep without (he pretended it was so if anything happened he'd be able to see the bad guys to fight better- the boy really was too much like his father) in the dim lighting she could see the lump that was her son, snuggled deeply under his dinosaur themed sheets and comforter. Creeping softly into the room she couldn't help but smile a little. Smooshed between Parker's cheek and his pillow was Mr. Raymond, Parker's stuffed pig he'd had since he was born. Xander had bought it because it reminded him of Mr. Gordo, Buffy's own stuffed pig from childhood and her friend thought Parker would need one of his own.

"Parker," she called softly, reaching out a hand to her son's shoulder, "Parker, sweetie, daddy's on the phone."

One bleary eye opened. For as much as he was like his father, Parker definitely took after her when it came to waking up. In that it didn't happen easily.

"Daddy?" he questioned.

"Yeah, sweetie, he's on the phone for you. Sorry to wake you, but he wanted to say goodnight."

One arm untangled from the mass of blankets and reached out, Elizabeth muttered a quick "here he is," into the phone before handing it over to her son.

She sat on the edge of his bed and Parker sleepily responded to his father over the phone before mumbling a "g'night, daddy," and handing it back to her.

"Hey," she whispered as she retucked her son into his bed. Parker was already back to sleep and might not even remember the conversation in the morning.

"Thanks for that," Seeley said as she slipped out of the room, leaving the door cracked open behind her, in case Parker needed her during the night.

"There's nothing to thank me for, besides, I'm not even sure you really talked to him- he might've been sleep-talking from the sound of things."

Seeley gave a small chuckle. "Still, thank you. I love you."

"And I love you. You wanna talk about it?"

She heard her husband sigh stormily. He did hate talking.

"We found the little boy," he finally began, and she remained silent, waiting for the other shoe to drop, knowing it would, "Zach had to use the thermal imager to find his body in the whole field. We're in the back of some mall and, god, Buffy, I just- I really needed to hear his voice."

There wasn't much you could say to comfort someone who had just found a child's body decomposing in the brush. Children aren't meant to die. Their bodies aren't meant to be found decomposing in bushes.

"You'll find who did this. And Parker will be here, safe, with us."

Because, really, what else could she say?

* * *

Booth walked out of the Sanders' home joking with the two sons about the video game he had played with them.

"Alright, look, you beat me bad," he admitted with a grin.

"No wonder you don't have a girlfriend," the elder boy teased.

"David!" his mother scolded.

"It's okay, Mrs. Sanders," Booth said, pulling on his suit jacket, "It's alright. No," he said to David, "I don't have a girlfriend. I do, though, have a wife."

"Is she pretty?" the younger boy, Shawn asked.

"Nah," the Agent said sarcastically, "she's butt ugly. Got a glass eye, snaggly back teeth." He winked at the young boy before taking out his wallet. Pulling out a picture of Buffy and Parker, he showed it to Shawn. "That's her."

"Wow. And that's your kid?"

"Yup, that's Parker. So," he turned to David, who was now looking at the picture as well, "was Leila with you the day that Charlie disappeared?" he had a theory about the teenage boy. He remembered being that age, and wanting to spend time with Buffy but needing to watch Jared sometimes.

David answered uncomfortably, "Uh, yeah, actually. We stopped and played some video games at the arcade."

Booth began to press a little, "That must've been before you and Charlie went to the park."

Mrs. Sanders turned to her eldest, slightly confused, "You didn't go to the mall that day, David."

David looked away.

Mrs. Sanders turned to the other boy, who was handing the photo back to Booth, "Shawn?"

"Don't ask Shawn, mom," David said, being the elder brother and taking the heat. Booth felt something like approval- he could remember a couple times he failed as an older brother, and he was pleased to see David stepping up to the plate with Shawn.

"You met Leila at the mall, didn't you?" Booth urged, "You left Charlie with Shawn at the park."

The boy sought to explain, "Well, just for a few minutes, and then they came back to the mall."

Shocked, his mother exclaimed "David!"

Her eldest turned to her, sorrow and guilt written all over his face, "Shawn let go of his hand for a second, Charlie was gone like that! And then we came straight home.

"Charlie wasn't taken from the park, he was snatched from the mall," Booth nodded slightly, planning a new angle for the case in light of the new information, "We've been looking in the wrong place." Booth looked across the street to see the neighbors, Mr. Nelson and his son, Skylar, loading up their truck before leaving. The boy kept shooting glances their way.

Booth was starting to get a very bad feeling here.

* * *

"Booth!" shouted Elizabeth's boss, causing her to jump slightly at her desk.

"Yes?" she asked, swiveling around on her chair after closing her solitaire game.

"They need you down at the Bureau- child advocate wants you in on this. Your hubby's got a kid he needs to question."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "You know, hubby sounds weird no matter how you say it."

Her boss just grinned, "Get your well-toned ass down to your husband's office, but no hanky-panky. You're there to do a job."

"Have I ever been less then professional when on the clock?" she asked, feigning offense.

"Not that we've ever caught you," and with a grin, her boss turned away. Elizabeth shut off her computer and grabbed her purse. Maybe if the time worked out she'd have lunch with Seeley. Which would be a very good thing, because with any other investigator she'd probably have ended up skipping it.

* * *

She sat down in the interrogation room with the child advocate and Seeley. Sitting across from her was little Shawn Cook. He had a water bottle sitting in front of him and seemed dead to the world. As if he had just shut himself off. Looking up, she noticed Seeley open his mouth to begin questioning. She shook her head. Shawn Cook had just lost his mother, and his younger brother, and now was in a room full of strangers. She recalled what Seeley had told her about Margaret Sanders- it was tragic. The law said that because she confessed to the kidnapping, in front of a Federal Agent in an interrogation room no less, she had to be arrested. Seeley was frustrated because the black and white of the situation was getting in his head. Kidnapping bad. Kidnapper in jail good. Elizabeth had lived life in shades of grey, and she saw a mother who'd do anything to keep her child safe.

It was a position she could understand. And she knew Seeley could too. If he'd just get his head out of his ass.

"Shawn?" she asked, bending forward so she was little more on his level.

The small boy looked up at her, "you're the lady from the picture."

Elizabeth looked over to Seeley who gave a small shrug before speaking, "That's right. This is Buffy, she's my wife. But right now she's here for you, Shawn."

Elizabeth looked around the room, "You know, it's pretty boring in here, Shawn. Here," she reached for the water bottle. Pouring three tiny pools of water on the table before Shawn and then three more before herself, she gestured to them, "Let's see what we can do with these."

Both she and Shawn swirled their fingers into the water for a few moments. Buffy was sketching some random designs; Shawn seemed intent on making a smiley face.

"Where were you taking Charlie, Shawn?" Seeley began. The boy shot a quick look at Buffy before mumbling to his artwork.

"I brought him to the mall to see David."

"I know you brought him to the mall. But we got a picture of you… leading him out of the mall," Seeley puts a photograph of Shawn on the table. The boy looks at it momentarily before turning back to the water.

"Where were you taking him, Shawn?" Seeley tries again.

"When can I talk to Margaret?" Shawn asks.

"Shawn," Buffy began, seeing Seeley was about to answer, probably with something she'd end up slapping him for later, "Did someone explain to you where Margaret is now? Properly, I mean?" the little boy shook his head slightly.

Reaching across the table, Elizabeth slid her hand into one of his.

"Margaret had to answer some questions about Charlie, just like you, and it turned out that Charlie wasn't her biological son either. Now, because she didn't tell the government that, there's been some confusion. And she has to wait in jail until it's all sorted out. I promise you- I will try my very best to get you to Margaret after you finish talking with Agent Booth, but right now she's got to explain to the government some things. Do you understand?"

Shawn gave a small nod.

Seeley stood and lifted up the hem of his shirt, revealing a scar on his hipbone, "Shawn, you know what that is?"

"A scar?"

Seeley tucked his shirt back in before sitting back down on the table, looking down at the boy who still held one of Buffy's hands. "Yeah. Got it when I was playing soldier with my brother Jared."

"Sometimes things happen when brothers are playing," Buffy adds with a shrug.

"Did it hurt?" the little boy asks, looking up at Seeley.

The agent nodded, "Yeah, it hurt. But it was an accident. You got any scars?"

Shawn rolled up his sleeve and Buffy had to restrain herself from gripping his hand tighter or gasping. There were round, circular, burn scars clustered just below Shawn's elbow. The kind you get when-

"My dad did it with a cigarette," Shawn explains calmly, dispassionately.

Seeley was struggling with the same emotions as his wife, but merely uttered, "He shouldn't have done that."

Shawn slid his sleeve back down, "Margaret didn't do anything like that. I love Margaret."

"Of course you do, honey," Elizabeth said, giving his hand a quick squeeze, "And, from everything I've heard, Margaret loves you too."

" What I need to know is if Charlie had some kind of an accident," Seeley explains patiently.

"No one is saying anything is your fault, Shawn," Buffy said, ducking her head down to look him in the eyes, "But we want to know what happened to Charlie so it won't have to happen to anyone else. Does that make sense?"

Shawn remained silent.

"Shawn?" Seeley questioned.

"Maybe we can just take a break," the advocate said with little feeling. Elizabeth doesn't have much respect for his way of doing his job at this point. Shawn turned away from Seeley, and took his hand from Buffy's, leaving his back towards the FBI Agent.

"Shawn?" Seeley repeated.

"Seeley," Buffy interrupted, motioning her head towards the hall. Her husband nodded. She reached out and squeezed Shawn's hand once again. "I'll be back," she promised with a smile. The small boy nodded before turning back to the water droplets, as if it didn't make much difference to him if she followed through on her promise.

She joined Seeley in the hall.

"We're not getting anywhere with him," he sighed, rubbing his face in frustration.

Elizabeth grabbed his wrists and lowered them before linking her fingers with his. "I don't know what to say. But I think we should take a break, I'll stay with him, but in a different room. That one's so cold. Also, I'll see if I can't pull some strings so he can talk to Ms. Sanders."

Seeley nodded and gave her a small smile. "So, whatcha doing for lunch?"

"Babysitting a small boy," she returned with a smile of her own, "Why?"

"I was thinking of asking you out on a date, but if you're busy," he trailed off and shrugged.

"You could always babysit with me. Bring some take out."

"Thai?"

She groaned and gave him a caste peck, "You know me so well. I'll see what Shawn likes to eat, and check to see if he has any allergies."

"It's a date," Seeley promised with a small smile, before sighing and going back into what Buffy called his "FBI mode." "To work, then."

* * *

Elizabeth was sitting with Shawn and a coloring book when her phone rang.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized to the small boy, though he probably didn't care, "Let me just take this."

Stepping out into the hallway she answered, "Seeley? What's up?"

"Shawn Cook couldn't have killed Charlie."

Buffy rolled her eyes, "Tell me something I didn't already know. That boy could barely hurt a fly."

"Neither did David Cook or Margaret Sanders."

"Again, I'm not exactly fainting from shock here."

"It had to have been an adult male, about 190 pounds."

"Who does that leave in your suspect pool?"

"Well," Seeley paused, "Any adult male weighing about 190 pounds. We need Shawn to tell us where he took Charlie that day."

Buffy sighed and then thought for a moment. Her gut was telling her something and there were a few things she had noticed plus and it was all adding up into her taking a leap of faith. "Are you with Dr. Brennen?"

"Yeah, what? You thought I did all the science on my own?"

"Put her on."

"Huh?"

"Seeley, just work with me here, put her on, and trust me."

"Hello? Mrs. Booth?" Temperance Brennen's voice crackled slightly over the phone.

"Dr. Brennen, I'm taking a leap of faith here, and I want you to either say yes or no. You don't have to explain either way.

"But I think you know what to say to Shawn Cook, I think you know how to talk to him to get him to open up. Seeley can't, I can't, and the child advocate  _certainly_  can't and I'm not letting that child prosecutor within twenty feet of Shawn. But you- I can see you getting through to this boy.

"Do you agree, Dr. Brennen?"

There was a pause for a few moments while Elizabeth held her breathe and hoped she hadn't  _massively_  misinterpreted everything (she's done that before and Seeley usually teases her for days about her foot-in-mouth syndrome).

"Yes," the Doctor finally responds, "Though, I'd like to talk to you afterwards as well."

"I'd be more than happy to, Dr. Brennen, and thank you."

* * *

It seemed like minutes later when Buffy was leading Dr. Brennen into the interrogation room where Shawn and the child advocate waiting.

"Shawn?" she asked, "I've got someone here who would like to talk with you, if you don't mind."

The little boy just shrugged and the counselor and anthropologist exchanged nods before Dr. Brennen sat down beside Shawn and Elizabeth left the room.

Entering the room on the other side of the one-way mirror, Elizabeth heard Brennen open up a dialogue with Shawn.

"Yeah, I'm pretty smart."

"And very modest," the juvenile prosecutor snarked.

"Believe me, she  _is_  being modest," Booth defended his partner.

Elizabeth examined the woman before asking, "Has anyone ever told you that you can be a vastly unpleasant person?"

The room was quiet after that.

Until finally Shawn began to cry and Dr. Brennen told him he could stay with Margaret and David, but he needed to tell her what happened to Charlie.

"I'm gonna need your help to keep the promises she made to that boy," Seeley remarked to the prosecuter.

The woman began to protest, "Hey, I- I can't promise-"

Seeley used his very-serious voice that Buffy usually heard when he was threatening perps or trying to get Parker to go to bed on time, "Mrs. Johnson, my people and your people are gonna have to make this happen."

"I've already been connecting with some of my own contacts as well," Elizabeth remarked, "So it shouldn't take too much effort on your part, ma'am. Though I'm sure you'll be stuck with the paperwork. Still, if that's the only price for reuniting a family, I'm sure you'll do it with a smile on your face."

Seeley smirked when he saw his wife's saccharine grin aimed at the prosecutor.

That woman had no idea what she was getting into if she went toe to toe with Buffy.

Brennen at that moment looked through the glass and gave a slight nod, Seeley sighed.

"She did it. She got his name."

"I knew it," Elizabeth couldn't help but add.

* * *

About three hours later, after an arrest and quite a bit of paperwork, Elizabeth was sitting with Dr. Brennen next to David and Shawn Cook when Margaret Sanders laid eyes on them again.

"Boys," she practically sighed, and the two children cried out and ran into her arms.

Elizabeth looked across the room at her husband, who was looking rather happy with himself and couldn't help but smile as well.

Sometimes, the day ends happily.

Turning to Dr. Brennen, Elizabeth figured it was about time for that conversation.

"So, how about a drink?" she asked. The other woman nodded.

As they left the building Buffy thought she might've heard Seeley mutter something about "there's trouble."

She chose to ignore him.

* * *

"Why did you think I'd be able to talk to Shawn Cook?" Brennen asked as soon as their drinks were served. It was a bit early for them, but the blonde figured that after a case like that, they were more than excused. "Did you look me up and find records of me in the foster system or-?"

Elizabeth cut her off, "No, nothing like that. I'm horrible with computers anyways, I always have to have my friend Willow do everything for me. Seeley's terrible too. No, I just- I remembered a couple times where Seeley had told me about arguments he had with you, and some of the things I heard you say during this case, and then the way you were looking at the boys, how fiercely you protested against Margaret Sanders's arrest. You're normally one for following rules, or so it seems- not necessarily other's rules but the rules of a functioning society. It's important to you. So for you to protest against that one so strongly…well, I put two and two together and got four."

"That seems like a lot of…inference."

"You mean psychology, Dr. Brennen?"

"I don't like psychology," the brunette confessed with a grimace, "It's a soft science and it has no actual basis in fact or empirical values."

"Well, I won't argue with you. I had an awful Psych teacher in college and it's kinda turned me off, but I'll admit to using it quite often. If not always with success. It's more a…template, I think, Dr. Brennen."

"Call me Temperance."

"Then you should call me Elizabeth. Mrs. Booth sounds so odd."

"You've been married for over fifteen years, that would typically be enough time to get used to a name change- or would you have rather kept your maiden name? It's understandable in a society where women are often the ones expected to give up certain things that are tied up in their identity for a relationship-"

"No," Elizabeth laughed a little, "It's not that. I do like being Mrs. Booth. I wasn't too fond of my maiden name. Kemp. Ugh. Such an ugly sound. Besides, whenever someone calls me Mrs. Booth Seeley gets this ridiculous look on his face. It's almost like he'd forgotten we were married and was reminded of the whole thing all over again. It's just not many people call me that. My friends all call me Buffy, my boss usually calls me Booth. Or, when Seeley's around, mama-Booth. My coworkers usually call me Elizabeth. And Seeley, of course, calls me Buffy. I guess Mrs. Booth just sounds a little formal for my husband's partner."

Temperance nodded, "It is still very strange for me to think of Booth as married. I told him I thought he had alpha male characteristics usually associated with a solitary existence but he seemed to take offense to it."

Buffy giggled, "Well, I can see where you're coming from. And don't let Seeley fool you, he acts all tough macho alpha-male, but really he's a giant adorable sensitive dork. Don't tell him I told you."

"Told her what?" Seeley asked as he walked into the bar.

"You will never know," his wife promised him.

"Well, I came to update you two on the case. We have Nelson cold. The insecticide he was using on the termites matches the fluoride concentration perfectly. Skyler's dad admitted everything."

"Don't tell me," Brennen sighed bitterly, "he said crushing Charlie to death was a mistake."

"He never abused Shawn Cook," Seeley continued, causing Elizabeth to give a small sigh of relief. At least Shawn was spared that, "he just used him to get near Charlie. It played out just like you said. He had Charlie out in that field. Some teenage kids, they come by, so he knelt on Charlie to keep him from crying out. Shawn got scared and ran back to his brother."

"Charlie was small and weak," Temperance concluded, "His sternum collapsed. You think he abused any other kids?"

Both Booths sighed, "Knowing how these cases usually pan out," Elizabeth scowled, "probably his own son."

"You report that to Child Services?" Temperance asked Seeley, looking away.

"Mm-hmm. Try to get the kid some help," the man nodded and then paused before continuing "Look, I'm sorry."

"For what?" Brennen asked.

"You have personal experience in the system," after that Seeley trailed off.

Brennen paused before sharing, "I was a foster child until my grandfather got me out."

"Yeah, when you said 'They take you away from your brother,' I kind of had the feeling you weren't talking about David Cook."

Buffy decided to intervene before things got too uncomfortable for her new friend. "Seeley, I think it's time we go, besides, I think Temperance has a party to get ready for?" she turned to the brunette, who nodded.

"By the way," the anthropologist called to the couple as they left, "there's a huge ding in my passenger-side door because you told me not to park it at an angle."

Seeley began to laugh, "What?"

"Okay, that's just mean," Brennen said as Buffy chimed in with a scolding "Seeley!"

"You're mean," Brennen added with a finger pointing at the Agent.

Seeley kept laughing as he guided his wife towards the exit. He gave a shrug to his partner and a quick "Sorry," before the couple was out the door.

"Seeley, really," his wife continued to scold as Booth wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close enough that her hip bumped against him as they walked.

"C'mon, we've got our own munchkin to check on. Gotta make sure he hasn't knocked Tara out from pure exhaustion and burned down the house with her in it. Willow'd never forgive us."

Bumping her forehead against her husband's arm, Buffy chuckled and let it go. The partners could sort out their own issues.

And they really should go relieve Tara from babysitting duty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, hope you all enjoyed that episode! Please leave a review! They take seconds but make my whole day. :D


	8. I Want to Marry You

They got married when he was eighteen and she was seventeen.

He had been thinking about it since he had joined the Army and wanted to make absolutely sure that if anything happened, she'd be first to know and that if he didn't come home, she'd get something to help her take care of herself.

And he knew her well enough to know that, god forbid, anything did happen, she'd take care of the rest of his family too.

They were out shopping, wandering around at little booths and boutiques. Buffy loved to shop and Seeley loved to spend time with her, so it usually lasted about an hour before he started teasing her to do something else. She'd roll her eyes and they'd end up at the arcade so he could try to impress her and she'd pretend to be impressed. It was a well-worn routine so he knew now was the time he usually began pestering Buffy about buyer's remorse.

However, he spotted a tiny jewelry shop and pointed out to his girlfriend. They slipped into it and he noticed her eyeing up some rings- while she went off to explore more of the shop, mentioning something about Tara's birthday, he read the little paper put next to them. They were traditional Irish wedding rings, depending on which way the heart was pointing, and each part represented something: the hands, friendship, the crown, loyalty, and the heart, obviously, love. They were called "Claddagh" rings and he found himself rather liking them as well.

So the next day he went back to the shop and bought one for Buffy, trying to plan out how to get his words out to her without getting her angry. Or upset. Or her not understanding. Or her rejecting the idea.

There were a lot of ways this could go wrong.

He had taken her out on a picnic for a date, sneaking into the recess yard of their old elementary school, to the very steps he had first seen her on. He had packed her favorite foods in the basket and had her laughing for hours until he finally pulled out dessert- some cherry lollipops.

This, of course, made Buffy giggle hysterically and ask what he was up to. He simply handed her a lollipop, holding it so the stem was largely obscured by his hand, and when she went to open the wrapper she found a Claddagh ring tied with some ribbon to the stick.

Not wanting her to misinterpret, he immediately launched into his discussion.

"I want to marry you. Someday, any day, really- as soon as you'll let me. I know I've got to leave soon but I don't want you to doubt that… it's you. For the rest of my life, it's you. From the first time I saw you on these steps with a damn lollipop, it's been you. And, if you want, you can take that ring and keep it as a promise that someday, I'll come back to you and we'll get married.

"It's a claddagh ring. The hands represent friendship, the crown represents loyalty. And the heart... well, you know," he cleared his throat a little while Buffy lifted her eyes from the ring in her hands to his face, "Wear it with the heart pointing towards you. It means you belong to somebody." She smiled softly, and reached a hand up to rest against his cheek, and then it slid down to rest against his heart. He could feel it skip a beat at her actions and his nerves for this next part, "But, Buff- I can't really actually promise anything about the future, and I don't want to worry you- because I have faith it'll all work out. But, if something happens to me, I want you to be the first person they call." He left out the part about the pension, knowing she'd get upset and that was a discussion better saved for a later date. "So, I'd like to marry you. Now. Soon. Before I have to go to basic training. Because I've always planned on marrying you, but I just want to move the timetable up."

There were tears in her eyes, and her hand was pressed hard enough against his chest that she could probably feel his heartbeat through the fabric of his shirt with how hard it was pounding. The lollipops had been put to the side, but the ring rested in the palm of her free hand. She swallowed hard and a few tears slipped past her lashes.

Oh, crap, he thought.

"Aren't you going to put this on?" she asked him finally, the ring held in her palm moving closer to him.

"What?" he asked, stupidly.

"If we're getting engaged- and don't think I won't tease you later for not getting down on one knee," she gave him a goofy smirk and he felt his heart do that stupid squeezing thing that happened a lot around her, "You could at least put the ring on me yourself."

Grinning, he delicately took the ring out of her palm and grabbed her left hand in his own. Slipping the ring on, heart pointed towards her, he lifted her hand up so he could place a kiss on her finger, just on top of the ring. His ring. On his girl. Who was marrying him. Soon.

He began to laugh and she started laughing and the next thing they knew they were wrestling each other and laughing in the old recess yard where they met by the steps he had pulled her pigtails on.

Despite his departure hovering on the horizon, he decided that was probably the most perfect moment of his existence.

* * *

Her parents gave their permission for the wedding easily, considering, her mother said, that they always knew they'd end up married, just a little later.

He had dreams about the wedding for weeks before he finally saw her walk down the aisle at him and realized that the reality of her blew all his dreams out of the water.

Her father walked her down the aisle, her mother cried, Willow was her maid of honor and Tara and Anya (Xander's girlfriend) were her bridesmaids. His brother Jared was his best man and he and Xander were able to put aside their competition for alpha male away long enough for the man to be another groomsman along with Seeley's friend Doyle.

His Pops and her parents got front row seats and otherwise the church was empty except for the Priest. They didn't really need or want any more than that.

She wore her mother's wedding gown, taken up for her shorter height with a few more modifications she insisted on for a more fashionable design, and his Pops had given her the bracelet that Seeley's grandmother had worn on their wedding day. It was a small band of aquamarines separated by a few diamonds and Elizabeth had cried when she'd seen it. Her veil, though, was new, and the smile she gifted him when he lifted it up was the thing he would remember best about the ceremony. That and the matching Claddagh ring she had found for him.

The actual wedding was a blur- he remembers saying "I do," and holding his breath until she did as well. He remembers vowing to love, honor, and cherish her, and remembers hearing her vow to do the same- she had flat out refused to vow to "obey" and gave the priest a death-glare when he suggested it.

What he does remember in its entirety is the reception that they hadn't known they were having, where they were taken to her mother's house and found that everyone had given them a gift by decorating the whole backyard to look like some sort of fairytale. Buffy cried again and he'd admit getting a little choked up to no one but his wife.

His Pops insisted on announcing them as "Mr. and Mrs. Seeley Booth" and then winked and added "Shrimp and Buffy" which caused Mrs. Booth to almost collapse from giggling.

The group stayed there until late in the night when Buffy's mother and Willow lit candles and everyone was toasting them in increasingly ridiculous ways as the alcohol got to their heads (especially Doyle). He remembers sitting next to her, with his arm wrapped around her shoulders and her entire body pressed tight against him, head tucked into the space between his shoulder and neck. And, nope,  _this_  was the most perfect moment of his existence.

Anya, it turns out, was in charge of photography and had been subtly snapping pictures of the whole shindig. Two weeks later when she gifted them with a scrapbook before he left for basic training, he was pleased to find a picture of them sitting together at the reception. Buffy swooned over the picture of their first dance, but that one- with her face obscured by his neck and her hand pressed against his heart- was his favorite picture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we have the proposal and marriage. They get married super young, yes, but, hey, it's my story, and for me, the longer Buffy and Seeley are together, the happier I'll be. Besides, I'd figured that Buffy would kinda have that slayer-I'm-going-to-die-soon-so-carpe-diem mentality leaking through and we know from that dream sequence (which I still swoon over like some hopeless teenage girl with a crush) that Angel was pretty into the idea of getting married to Buffy.  
> Hope you enjoyed- please leave behind a review when go you!


	9. The Inspiration for a Second Honeymoon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To recap the episode: During a fight at a dance club, a wall breaks open to reveal a mummified corpse and a stash of methamphetamine. When Brennan and her team identifies the deceased to be a former DJ of the dance club, Booth and Brennan investigate a rival DJ and the owner of the dance club.

Seeley and Buffy were having a date night. And, unlike their typical date nights, they managed to actually get out of the house.

Probably because Xander, Anya, their three kids, and Parker were all there.

"Hopefully they won't tear the house down," Seeley was only half-joking as he pulled a chair out for Buffy.

"Well, that's the benefit of Xander being a contractor- even if they do, he'll have it fixed and we'll probably never even know."

"It might even be better," Seeley fake-gasped as he sat down across from her, "Maybe we should have the boy babysit more often."

"You really have to stop calling him that," Buffy shook her head, "You two have known each other for almost twenty years, you realize that? And you still get testosterone poisoning around each other. It's getting old. You'd think you two have bonded over being two men surrounded by women. Doyle and Xander get along fine."

"I'm sure Bones would say something about us being anthropologically driven to be the alpha male and have all the women to ourselves."

Buffy laughed, "That does sound like Temperance. But look on the upside, babe- even if you won the alpha male competition, you'd still have no power over all the women."

Seeley began to smirk and slid his chair closer to his wife's, "You saying I don't have power over you?" he practically growled in her ear, before ducking his head lower to begin kissing up and down her neck.

"Seeley," she hissed, "we are in a restaurant. A  _public_  restaurant."

"So let's leave."

"We haven't even eaten yet and you know you want that steak."

"Not as much as you."

"Well, you'll be glad you had enough food to keep your energy up later tonight," his wife promised, and Seeley dutifully pulled back so his nose was resting against her cheek.

"You might have a point there," he admitted.

"I usually do," Buffy giggled lightly.

Their waiter interrupted them at that point and they placed their orders.

They were halfway through the meal when Seeley's phone rang. Knowing that if it was his phone, it was more likely to be work than Xander calling about Parker, the Agent gave a groan and looked mournfully at the rest of his steak as he picked up.

"Booth," he answered sourly. Buffy waved the waiter over and asked for boxes seeing as they were going to have to leave.

By the time her husband had hung up, Buffy had boxed the meals, paid the check, and was putting on her coat. He looked up at her from his seat.

"You're amazing, you know that right?"

She smiled down at him and leaned over for a quick kiss. "I know. How do you think I got you to marry me?"

"Oh, and here I thought it was me who had to do all the convincing."

"That was part of my master plan," she teased as she grabbed the bag with the food, "Didn't want to seem too eager, you know."

"You cried," he teased back as he took the bag from her hands. Sighing and rolling her eyes at her husband's actions, Buffy shook her head at him.

"You cried at the wedding."

"I did not," he shot back.

"I was looking at you the whole time, Seeley- trust me, there were tears."

"I don't remember that," he said as he pulled his car keys out.

"What  _do_  you remember?" the blonde asked as she slid into the passenger seat.

"You," he shot back as he stole another kiss before putting the car in drive.

"Oh, very smooth, Agent Booth. You say that to all the girls you marry?"

"Only the blonde ones."

* * *

With Seeley's driving, they were at the club within a few minutes. Not wanting to sit alone in the car for an undetermined amount of time, Buffy followed him in.

The couple met up with Special Agent Furst, who had called Seeley in because Temperance was already there, apparently.

"Are you sure she can handle this?" the Agent asked as he led Seeley and Buffy into the club.

"No one in our lab knows the first thing about dealing with a mummy," Booth informed him seriously, "I'd have to call her in anyways."

"Besides, from what I understand, Dr. Brennen on her worst day is better than your entire lab at their best, she's that good," Elizabeth inserted, giving Seeley a small grin as he helped her down the steps- they were rather difficult in her heels.

"She assaulted two agents who were trying to tape off the body," the other Agent said, pointing at Brennen who was ordering people to keep away from the remains.

"They were trying to contaminate the body!" the woman in question shouted, very earnestly.

Furth explained to Booth the scene, "There was a cloud of meth covered the dance floor," he pointed again at the anthropologist, "I think they've inhaled quite a lot."

Both Booths couldn't help grinning as Seeley questioned Temperance, "Are you high?"

Angela, who Buffy hadn't noticed until that point, spoke up then, "Only by accident so it doesn't count."

Buffy was giggling as Brennen began her own questioning of Seeley, "Why'd you bring Elizabeth? This doesn't seem like such a great date."

Elizabeth decided to intervene, "We were out to dinner when we got the call and I tagged along. My god, your pupils are  _huge_."

Temperance didn't respond to that as she noticed someone getting close to the remains and she rushed over to tell them off.

"Bones, simmer down," Seeley requested.

Two other men arrive and one asked "How long is this gonna take?"

Seeley's hackles rose. "Who the hell wants to know?"

The other man was the one who answered, "I'm sorry, he works for me. I'm Randall Hall, I run this place."

Seeley began interviewing immediately, "You run this place Mr. Hall? Interesting, you know, cause we know found some drugs on-"

At that point Brennen cut in, "Found them, we found 'em."

Elizabeth tried hard not to giggle at her new friend.

Seeley attempted to regain control of the questioning, "Alright, we found some drugs on the dead guy. We're gonna want to know where they came from, why he had them-"

Brennen cut in again, "Why."

Elizabeth decided to try to help before things got bloody.

"Temperance, why don't you show me what you've found with the remains while Seeley keeps questioning these men, hmm?"

Seeley shot her a grateful look while she led the anthropologist off towards the body and he continued questioning, "Why he had them. Any idea who he is?"

"Ok, Temperance- why don't you tell me how this happened?" Elizabeth found herself slipping into her professional role as a counselor. She'd questioned more a few kids and guided them over the course of her career. A high Brennen was surprisingly similar to an over eager child.

"Well, the Egyptians would give the body a cedar oil enema and then rinse it with wine and cover it with salt. But I don't think that's what happened here."

"I'd imagine not," Buffy managed to respond.

"Bones, you are totally wasted," Seeley said in something like amazement.

At that moment, Zack Addy entered the room and the good Doctor got rather distracted.

"Zack! Zack! Zack! Come here! Come here! Isn't this a beautiful specimen of mummification?"

Poor Zack looked deeply uncomfortable. "What's going on?"

"Let's just say," Agent Booth told him, "That your boss inhaled."

"See how perfectly dried and preserved the skin is?" Brennen continued, pointing at the mummy, "You don't find something like this every day. Hey Elizabeth, have you seen it?"

"Yes, I did. It's very interesting." Elizabeth found herself very glad that the sight of bodies never bothered her much. It was a good qualification for an FBI Agent's wife, and evidently for Brennen's friend as well.

Angela piped up again, "It's so hard to believe that you two have been married for sixteen years. You know, since you were barely legal. It's very touching," she added, gesturing between the married couple.

Seeley looked uncomfortable while Elizabeth just smiled, her husband turned to whisper to her, "I'm sorry about this, I'll make it up to you. I promise."

Elizabeth, not really that concerned, turned to face him, "Double mint chip ice cream?"

"Done deal," he grinned back at her, knowing where that particular brand of ice cream usually led. He swooped down for a quick kiss before Buffy lightly shoved him off her with a shake of her head.

"Crime scene," she reminded him.

Both Brennen and Angela, seeing the couple's PDA, burst out with a loud, "Awwwwww!"

"Ok, ok- back to work," Seeley scolded them. "Can we stick to the business here? Thank you," he turned over to Mr. Hall, "I'll need a list of your employees, alright? We'll run it through the system, see if any one of 'em have a drug conviction," he turned back to Brennen, "How long before you can ID him?"

"Well, I'm not at all tired so I'm sure I can stay up all night and work," Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh as Brennen turned to speak to her intern, "We have to be careful removing him, he's very dry and brittle." The anthropologist turned back to the remains and said with what sounded like reverence, "My first modern mummy."

* * *

It was late when Seeley and Buffy finally walked up their driveway and opened their door. They were unsurprised to find Anya and Xander on their couch, kissing heavily.

"Hey, the couch of my house is sacred," Seeley interrupted, giving Xander a quick slap on the head, "No tonsil hockey there."

"I'm sure you and Buffy have done much more. Like had sex, on this couch," Anya protested, "Besides, you took so long getting home and I find it difficult to get time alone with Xander with three children."

"Anya," her husband interrupted, "I really don't want to think about Buffy and the G-man having sex. Anywhere. Let alone on the couch that we're sitting on."

"Why? They have a son. For Buffy to have gotten pregnant, they had to have-"

Xander cut her off, "Don't wanna think about it, Ahn. Now. Perhaps we should gather up our own munchkins and head home."

"Yes, then we can have sex in our own bed. I much prefer that to the couch. Not that the couch doesn't have a certain-"

"Anya!" the three other adults shouted, quieting the woman.

"Thanks so much for babysitting," Buffy said, "We'll see you tomorrow probably, do you need any help with the kids?"

"I'll grab Kristen," Seeley offered, going off to gather up his youngest niece.

"Thanks, but couldn't you take the heavier one, oh big-FBI-guy?" Xander asked, following Seeley to the quest room where Xander and Anya's three kids had curled up like puppies.

"I figured I'd like you prove your manliness to Anya by leaving Matt to you."

"I know Xander's very manly. I do appreciate displays of it though, thank you, Seeley," Anya chimed in as she picked up her youngest child.

"No problem, Anya, always glad to help Xander throw out his back."

The three trouped out the door that Buffy held open and strapped the kids in. After saying their goodnights, and thanking them again for babysitting, the Booths watched as the other family drove home.

"So-" Seeley said, wrapping his arms around his wife, "I believe I promised you some double mint chip?"

Buffy grinned as Seeley again went right for her neck. "You go get the ice cream and I'll just check on Parker."

With one more kiss, the man went off to get his wife's favorite ice cream while Buffy slipped quietly down the hall to check on their son.

Parker was sleeping heavily, no doubt tuckered out from playing with his three cousins after a long day at Preschool. She was so enamored with the sight of the boy, she failed to hear the man sneaking up behind her to wrap his arms around her waist.

Seeley chuckled as she gave a slight jump when she realized he was there, before relaxing into his embrace.

"I want another one," he whispered in her ear.

"Another one? You still have energy left over from this one?"

"I'd like a little girl who is the spitting image of her mother," he continued, "Or another boy. I think another one would be nice. And I've got some vacation time coming up, we could send Parker to visit your dad or on an extended sleepover with Willow and Tara and we could do a whole second honeymoon thing."

"You're really trying to sweet talk me into getting pregnant again?"

"Yup," he whispered into the crook of her neck, "How's it working?"

"It's working," she sighed, "We should probably talk about this more."

"What's to talk about? We're young, healthy, adults, happily married in our very stable relationship, with jobs, enough money saved up, a rather massive and, frankly, overly-involved extended family," at that his wife gave a snort and elbowed him.

"You know you love the fact that everyone lives to spoil Parker and we have so many possible babysitters for date nights."

"I do, but has it ever occurred to you just how crazily codependent your whole group is?"

"They're your group too; you married into it early on."

"That I did, but I was just trying to get with you."

"Oh, I see how it is. You married me for me."

"Yup."

They were quiet for a moment, two.

"Let's have another one," Buffy whispered.

* * *

The next day, Seeley called Buffy, who had the day off, and asked her to bring him a fresh shirt. Apparently, he had a run in with dog drool and then proceeded to dig up a body. Elizabeth was considering just flat out throwing out the shirt he was changing out of. Angela had found the couple up on the catwalk and was chatting with them when Seeley brought up the idea for their second honeymoon.

"Jamaica?" the artist asked, sounding more than a little envious, "God, that's incredible."

Buffy nodded and smiled, "It's this bed and breakfast on these coral cliffs, Seeley picked it out."

Seeley cut in, attempting to save his masculinity in case it was in question, "Snorkeling, kayaking." His wife shot him a look. She knew he had minimal intentions of leaving the bed and breakfast for the whole vacation. She'd probably be the one to drag him off to go snorkeling.

"So where did you go for the first honeymoon?" Angela asked.

The two chuckled, "Considering we were pretty much broke when we first got married and Seeley was about to leave for basic training, our honeymoon was a nice room in a hotel that our families had chipped in to buy for us until Seeley left."

"And now you're getting the same thing. Only with rum punch and steel drums," the artist smiled before leaving the Booths on the catwalk.

"See ya, Angela," Elizabeth called after her. She turned to her husband. "I liked our first honeymoon."

"So did I. Mostly because of that blonde girl I spent most of it with."

"Most of it? All of it, you mean. We barely left the hotel room and when we did we were together."

Seeley shrugged, unapologetic, before kissing her softly, "Thanks for bringing me a shirt, it was good to see you. What's Parker up to?"

"When we walked in there was this special children's tour with an arts and crafts make-your-own-dinosaur thing. He looked so excited he didn't even have to ask me before I caved and signed him up for it. He'll be done in about a half an hour. I think Parker may want to become a scientist if he spends more time at the Jeffersonian. He might beat our SAT scores!" Buffy joked.

"We can only hope. Besides, if that fails he can do what we did- fall back on our good looks," the Agent teased back.

"Well, there is that. You two are some handsome men."

"That's why we get the most beautiful girls," he leaned down for another kiss.

"Ok, I'll let you get back to work. Go catch the bad guy."

They exchanged another not-so-quick kiss and separated just as Brennen walked up the crosswalk.

"Hi, Elizabeth."

"Hey, Temperance." Elizabeth gave a wave before disappearing down the steps.

"It's Eve Warren," Brennen announced to Booth, bringing him back to the matter at hand: the body they had found.

"Eve Warren," the Agent sighed, "Ok, cause of death?"

"Same as Mount."

"Meth overdose."

Brennen nodded, "Pushed in the face, but there's more. I don't think that Rulz killed her."

Her partner was immediately skeptical, "She was buried under his studio," he reminded the anthropologist.

"But her wrist was broken," Temperance said, as if that meant everything.

Seeley waited before finally confessing, "Ok, I'm going to need more of an explanation than that."

* * *

After an explanation using the Angela-tron showing Booth that, with his injury, Rulz wouldn't have been able to kill Eve Warren, the Agent and his partner were interrogating the rapper and, to Brennen's great confusion, negotiating sending the man to jail in exchange for information.

"You're negotiating to put this guy in jail?" she asked incredulously.

Seeley continued to negotiate with Rulz, "To sweeten the pot, I'll charge you with Mount's death too. But you hire one of those moron lawyers and you'll be thrown in lockup for what, maybe a month?"

The rapper nodded with a pleased smile, "Sweet, all right."

"Where am I," Brennen wondered out loud, "in Backwards World?"

* * *

Rulz's information provided a very nice motive for Hall, but the entire team was stumped in getting tangible evidence.

It was while he and Brennen were poking and prodding Hall, that the good Doctor figured it all out.

"Hey, Booth! Don't break the cane. Arrest him and confiscate the cane as evidence. I need the cane."

Not understanding, but following along with his partner anyways, Booth did so.

* * *

Temperance was sure her hypothesis was right; she just needed Zack and Hodgins' help to confirm it. Back at the Jeffersonian, the boys were getting ready to test hitting each other with the cane. Or rather, Hodgins was going to hit Zack.

Angela stood beside Brennen and chatted.

"Get this, I called Elizabeth to recommend some places to go in Jamaica and she told me that she'd try, but Booth probably won't let her leave the bed and breakfast the whole time they're there if he can help it."

"I don't understand why you're sharing this with me as though it were important information," Brennen told her friend.

"It's just… nice I guess. I mean, they've been married for sixteen years almost. It's weird, because sometimes you see them together and it's like they've just gotten married yesterday. Like the newlywed stage never ended."

Hodgins called over to the women, "How many times do you want me to poke Zack?"

"Just once," Brennen instructed, "but as hard as you can."

Zack was visibly upset "As hard as he can? Why don't I hit him as hard as I can?"

"Because you have arms like noodles," Hodgins took the opportunity to take a dig at the younger man, "while I'm vigorous and burly."

Brennen continued her discussion with Angela. "From what I understand their time as newlyweds was spent largely apart due to Booth's training with the army."

Zack's voice carried over to them, "That all you got, burly boy?"

"It's just sweet, that's all honey. It's nice to see people so in love. Intimidating, but also inspiring. I mean, what are the chances of any of the rest of us getting a relationship like that?"

Hodgins interrupted before Brennen could explain that there were too many variables to be able to calculate accurate statistics for that question, "Hey, the mark on Mount and the mark on Eve, they're the same."

Brennen shook her head, "He can't resist hitting them with that stupid cane. The end of the cane, it's a fit for both marks," she points at the screen, "Hall is the killer. Send the cane, the photos and the medium to the FBI, let them confirm the match."

Hodgins looked ready to mount a protest, "What? Let them have all the glory?"

"My chest hurts," Zack muttered while rubbing where the mold had pressed against him.

"Yeah, all the glory," Brennen replied distractedly.

* * *

"So, you caught the bad guy," Elizabeth's question was more of a statement, but Seeley responded anyways.

"Yup, bad guy caught, vacation time requested, Parker packed, Willow and Tara prepared to spoil," he sighed and pulled his wife down on the couch with him, right into his lap. She shifted into a more comfortable position and curled up with him, hand resting on his heart.

"Sounds like we're ready. Unless you haven't packed?"

"Oh, I've packed. Please tell me you brought some bikinis."

She smiled and decided to tease her husband a bit, "Why? I thought you said we weren't leaving the room anyways?"

Booth gave a growl and began to tickle her sides. Buffy shrieked and smacked his shoulder.

"Stop stop. Yes, I brought bathing suits. I even bought some new ones for the occasion."

"Ooooh, can you try them on for me?" her husband asks with a lecherous smile.

"Nope," she said, popping the 'p', "They're a surprise. That way you have to let me out of the room to go swimming if you want to see them."

"You're a crafty woman," he smiled.

"I have to be with you."

"So, Jamaica?"

"Jamaica," at that moment, a knock sounded on the door, "And that'd be Wils and Tara here to get Parker and drop us off at the airport."

"Well, let's get going. You know Parker is going to have at least one moment where he seriously tries to get us to stay before realizing his Aunts will let him get away with murder?"

"I'm fully expecting it and have come equipped with bribery and promises."

"Smart woman."

"You saw my SAT scores."

"And was suitably intimidated," he replied as he opened the door to Willow and soft-spoken Tara.

"So I get my nephew for a whole week without having to give him back?" Willow confirmed as she practically danced into the house, "Yay!"

"We'll make sure he doesn't eat too much sugar," Tara promised Seeley.

"We will do no such thing!" Willow shouted, scandalized. "We're aunts- we have a sacred duty to spoil."

"And you do it so well," Buffy told her best friend as she and Parker came into the front room with the last of the luggage.

"You excited, Parker?" Tara asked sweetly, bending down to the small boy, who nodded at his aunt before wordlessly requesting to be picked up. The pending departure of his parents was making him a bit clingy at anyone who would cuddle him. Fortunately, Tara was more than willing to let him attach himself to her like an octopus.

With a lot of noise and unnecessary movement and triple checks, the family got underway and Buffy and Seeley just barely made their plane on time.

Waving goodbye, they slipped their hands into each other's and boarded.

"You know, Jamaica is probably highly overrated," Buffy said, her brows furrowed as she left Parker behind.

"Babe, he's with Willow and Tara- he's more than fine."

"You're right, of course. It's just-" she released a huff of breath and shook her head, "No, you're right."

"Of course," Seeley admitted, "If we wanted to go swimming and stay in bed all day we could do that just as well in D.C."

"Seeley," Buffy reminded him, "He'll be more than fine."

Now it was his turn to sigh, "You're right. Jamaica here we come," he added with a big smile.

"Yup. Sand; surf; tanning."

Seeley smiled and replied, "Big bed; room service; you tanning."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys loved that chapter as much as I loved writing it- and oh my god, Xander and Anya were fun. I'm going to have to add them in more often.
> 
> Please leave a review as you go. :D


	10. The Nine-Month Flu

Getting pregnant was not planned and Buffy was in denial for a long time about it. Seeley actually had figured it out on his own, as she hunched over the toilet bowl and swore up and down that the flu was kicking her ass.

He would just sigh and hold her hair back for her.

It took him awhile to figure out why exactly she was shying away from even the mention of it, and he could admit to himself that his pride was a little wounded by it. He immediately felt guilty for it, because Buffy shouldn't have to be pregnant if she didn't want to be, and maybe she just wasn't ready, twenty nine was still pretty young, right? Only Xander and Anya out of all their friends had started on kids. Maybe she didn't want to have kids with  _him_. He couldn't blame her, he knew he had a load of psychological issues that he didn't necessarily have when they were teenagers (granted, even then he had a lot of issues for someone their age), and his job wasn't necessarily the safest and maybe she was worried about finances or (and he felt deeply shamed by this last one) his ability to parent. He was good with Matt, but being an uncle and being a father are two different things.

It never even occurred to him that she might be questioning her own skills as a parent until one day he found her crying in the middle of the kitchen floor and saying she "couldn't do it," after attempting to make dinner.

His wife wasn't the best cook when her hormones  _weren't_  screwed up by pregnancy.

However, the failure to do some stereotypical housewife duty (something that had never bothered Buffy before) is what finally made it click.

Buffy was usually so comfortable in her own skin he sometimes forgot that she  _could_  be unsure of herself. In this instance, it wasn't that Buffy didn't want to be a mother, it was that she didn't believe she'd be a good one. But it was understandable- Anya was the only mother she really knew, and while they were friends Buffy wouldn't be entire comfortable taking advice from the blunt oddball woman; Willow, her best friend, would be just as clueless as Buffy herself was, and Buffy's own parents…

Well, Joyce had died while Buffy was still in college and Rupert lived all the way over in England now with his girlfriend Jenny. Seeley had no doubt the man would drop everything for his daughter, but Buffy would refuse to pull him away from his life and force him to uproot everything because she was "struggling with hormones," (as she would no doubt play it off).

Admittedly relieved by this revelation (this was something he could fix, unlike the other possibilities that had been giving him anxiety for the past few weeks), he scooped his wife off the kitchen floor and brought her into their bedroom where he held her as she cried herself out. Hopefully the release would even out her hormones a little and they'd be better able to have a rational discussion.

When Buffy was down to the occasional hiccup, Seeley decided to breach the topic that had been in the do-not-acknowledge zone for the past month, or as soon as Buffy realized he knew.

"So, you ready to admit this might not be the flu?"

"Sometimes the flu can take a while to get out of your system."

"I guess this is the nine-month flu bug, then," he pressed.

She sighed, "Seeley, I- I'm sorry."

"Hey," he pulled her tighter against his chest, and she pressed her cheek against his heart, letting its rhythm help soothe her. "You don't have to apologize. But we should talk about this because I can't help unless you talk."

"I can't believe  _you're_  advocating talking about issues."

"We've temporarily switched places," he agreed, "We must be in some alternate universe where I talk, you avoid, and the flu lasts nine months."

This succeeded in making his wife laugh- his whole goal- and she gave a sniffle before confessing on a whisper, "I just wish my mom was here."

He dropped a kiss on her head, because, really, there was nothing he could say.

"Or that Willow had gotten pregnant first," she joked and they both chuckled again. "I just- I don't know how to be a mom, Seeley."

"I don't know how to be a dad."

"But I'm-" she still struggled with the word.

"Yup. But when I married you I didn't know how to be a husband. And I like to think I'm a pretty good one now."

"The best," she assured him as she curled up closer to him, like the cat he often compared her to (mentally, because the one time he dared make the comparison out loud he got a tongue lashing).

"So we'll figure out the parenthood thing too. And we'll figure it out together. There isn't a thing in this world or any other we can't figure out together."

After a quiet moment of both of them just holding each other and breathing, she softly asked "Seeley?"

"Yeah?" he whispered into her blonde hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo.

"I think I'm pregnant."

He smiled.

"I love you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's Parker- causing his parent's stress from the very beginning. :D
> 
> I hope you guys liked the blast from the past, please leave behind anachronistic reviews while on your way back to the present.


	11. Bad to Not the Worst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To recap the episode: Howard Epps, a death row inmate, has less than two days left before his execution. When his attorney asks for Booth's help to prove his innocence, Booth agrees to look over the case and asks Brennan and her team to help him, even though he is convinced of Epps' guilt.

It was a bad day. Very bad. Especially after such a nice vacation. Elizabeth had three separate cases that morning and each one ended badly. First was the teenage boy whose father was now behind bars for abusing him. While they didn’t backtrack, they didn’t make any progress either and cases like that always made Elizabeth want to quit her job and run away with her family to Tahiti or the Caribbean where she could pretend things like that didn’t happen. And tan.

The second case was a foster child who had killed one of her foster siblings out of jealousy- thinking the foster parents were going to adopt the little boy and not her, she had smothered him in his sleep.

Those cases were worse.

The third case was not a scheduled one, but she received a phone call telling her that Anne, one of the girls she often worked with, who had a lot of issues with her identity and deciding who she was, had been found dead due to some sort of gang shoot out in the neighborhood where Anne had started handing out sandwiches to the other kids.

Elizabeth was ready to pack it in and she hadn’t even had lunch yet.

This required a phone call.

Dialing Seeley’s number, she closed her eyes and sighed as the phone rang until her husband answered.

“Booth.”

“Hey,” she said, and got no further before he knew something was up.

“Hey, babe- what’s wrong?” she recognized the tone of voice he was using- it was a comforting one, soft and deep. The one he used when her mother had died, whenever he had to leave again for the Army Rangers after a few months leave, whenever she woke up from nightmares, or when Parker was upset. She let his voice wrap around her, like the big fuzzy blanket they kept at the foot of their bed.

"Bad day. Very bad,” she informed him. “I’m oh for three today. Some cops called- Anne was shot in a gang shoot out.”

"God,” Seeley sighed. “Poor Anne.”

“Yeah. I just…she was there because she was handing out sandwiches to the other kids.”

Seeley sighed, “Don’t blame yourself, Buff. That was a good thing she was doing and I’m willing to bet anything she didn’t regret it for a moment. She was a troubled kid who probably would’ve ended up in some bad situation if not for you. The fact that she was killed trying to do some good in this world, that is not on you, that’s on the people with the gun.”

She smiled softly at hearing his conviction, “You’re very good at that.”

He chuckled, “You do it often enough for me.”

“It’s easy when you love someone.”

“I love you, Buffy. Always.”

“Always,” she repeated back to him. “Now, what’s been happening on your end?” her husband groaned, “Oh, no. No. That’s not a good sound.”

“That lawyer, Amy Morton was here.”

“About Epps?”

“Yeah. Wanted me to look him in the face.”

“Tell me you didn’t.”

“I can’t.”

She sighed, “Seeley, do not let that woman get into your head. What’d she say?”

“She might’ve pointed out that seven years ago I was…pretty angry.”

Buffy sighed, “I was there seven years ago, she wasn’t. She does not get to say things like that.”

“Buff, it’s true.”

“No- it’s twisted. She’s twisting it around to suit her.”

“Oh,” he was getting angry now, “and how’d you interpret me seven years ago?”

“Hurt.”

That word temporarily silenced Seeley so she continued.

“You were hurting and in a bad place, but then you channeled that into fixing everything you could. You repaired your relationships with people, reconnected with some old friends, you made sure that every case you got you did to the very best of your ability and beyond, you worked your ass off and you came home to me every night and held me like the world would end if you didn’t.”

“I felt like it would.”

“Well, you can hold me any time you want, and you still do your job better than anyone. She does not get to take a lot of very sensible pain that you were going through and throw it in your face like it’s something to be ashamed off.”

“Ok, simmer down, warrior woman,” Seeley chuckled. Hearing her defend him so staunchly, he never really felt like he deserved it, but it always made him fall a little more in love with her.

“Ignore her, ignore Epps, and come take me out for lunch,” she ordered.

He sighed, “I would, but, Buff, everyone deserves a chance.”

“This isn’t a chance, Seeley, this is a Hail Mary Pass by some twisted psycho who, no doubt, has gullible Amy twirled around his finger.”

“OK- but everyone deserves to have all the stops pulled out to be absolutely certain that the right man is going down. It’s not about Epps, it’s about the people who have to execute the guy.”

“You mean you?”

He sighed again- his wife knew him far too well.

“Seeley, this is not you being a sniper taking a target out. You are not the one who put that man on death row. Two judges, a jury- the  _law_ put Epps on death row. You are not responsible for his death.”

“I feel responsible and I want to make sure.”

She sighed, “Fine. Get Temperance to help you. She’ll remain objective.”

“You saying I won’t?”

“I’m saying this case is hitting you close to home and I don’t want you hurting because of Howard Epps. Bastard’s done enough damage.” She paused, “Also I don’t like Amy. She wears short skirts and flirts with you.”

He chuckled at the pout he could  _hear_ through the phone line. “Alright, I will see you home tonight.”

“You’d better.”

* * *

Six hours later Buffy sighed and dialed her husband’s number.

“Booth,” he answered.

"So, I just got a very panicked phone call from Ken Wright. He and his wife heard about Amy’s last minute appeal. They’re devastated, and Mrs. Wright is apparently a wreck. I’m going to head over there but I think it’d help to see you, too.”

“Damn,” Seeley sighed.

“Is it wrong for me to loathe Amy right now? Because it doesn’t feel wrong.”

“I’ll meet up with you at their place in thirty minutes.”

“See you there.”

Booth hung up and sighed. “That was Buffy, April Wright’s father called her.”

"A murder victim’s dad called your wife?” Brennen questioned.

“His wife’s a wreck. They heard about Amy’s angling for a last minute reprieve.”

“Why’d he call Mrs. Booth?” Hodgins asked.

“Because Booth was the agent that arrested Howard Epps in the first place.”

Booth interrupted before she could continue. “You know, I’m pretty sure that that evidence is not in the file.”

Brennen rolled her eyes, “Earlier you said “it’s a phone number that  _we_ found on the girl.”  I’m guessing they met Buffy through him due to her job as a counselor. Though I thought she specialized in juveniles?”

“She does, but in the course of the investigation someone brought her up and the Wrights asked to talk with her, said they felt better about talking to someone connected to the investigation than going outside it and talking to a total stranger.”

“Wait. You’re trying to save someone you arrested for murder?” Hodgins seemed to find the thought entertaining.

“Alright, you know, I think he did it,” Booth defended, “I think this scumbag bashed April Wright to death with a tyre iron.”

Brennen became very serious, “We’ve found some anomalies in the prosecution’s case. Do you want us to stop now before these anomalies become meaningful?”

Booth wanted to say yes, for a moment. He knew if he said yes she’d drop it. He knew she’d let it all go and let Epps be executed. If he said yes. But he remembered what he said to Buffy, about the investigation being for the people who had to put Epps on Death Row. And he made a decision.

“No. Stay on it. I gotta get going.”

* * *

When Booth entered the Wright house, he found Mrs. Wright sitting on the couch with his own wife talking lowly to the woman. The Wright’s lawyer and family friend, Mr. Ross, was also there. As Mr. Wright led Seeley into the room, Elizabeth looked up and gave him a tired smile.

“It’s very stressful,” Mr. Wright was saying as Seeley nodded, knowing there was little he could do aside from provide support, “waiting for this all to be over, and now we hear Epps’ lawyers are trying for a reprieve.”

“I heard,” Seeley confirmed.

Ross interjected, “He got himself a young lawyer from the Innocence Project. They don’t consider the families of the victims.” At that Buffy gave a small smile and placed her hand over Mrs. Wright’s. The woman did seem frazzled, Seeley thought, though his wife was clearly having a calmning effect. Or, as much as could be expected in the circumstances. Buffy was good at what she did, and people were even more his wife’s thing than his own.

“You remember our lawyer, David Ross,” Mr. Wright exchanged introductions, “Agent Booth is the investigator who caught Epps.”

“Is this ever going to be over?” sighed Mrs. Wright.

“We know it’s difficult, Mary,” Buffy answered, giving the woman’s hand a squeeze.

“Epps killed my daughter,” the woman insisted, before turning to look up at Seeley, “You believe that, don’t you, Agent Booth?”

“Yes ma’am. I haven’t changed my mind.”

“Seeley wouldn’t have made the arrest in the first place if he wasn’t convinced. Nothing that’s happened since has changed anyone’s minds. This won’t either.”

“He deserves to die for what he did,” Mrs. Wright continued. Elizabeth wrapped an arm around her.

“The jury thought so, the judge thought so. All these appeals…” Mr. Wright sighed, clearly at his wit’s end.

“It’s part of the process, that’s all,” Seeley said.

“We just have to wait it out,” his wife added.

“Each effort to stop his execution is more and more desperate,” Ross pointed out, “This one’s not gonna work either. It’s the third time they’ve launched an appeal, and it’s gonna be the third time they fail.”

Mrs. Wright noticed the picture that had caught Seeley’s eye, “It’s the last picture we have of April,” she told him, picking up the photograph. Seeley moved closer to his wife and the woman to better see the photo.

“She wanted to be a lawyer,” Mr. Wright reminisced, “David was her role model. He gave her a job at his firm on the weekends.”

“She was a good worker,” Mr. Ross said with a nod towards the grieving father.

“She was a beautiful girl,” Buffy said with a small smile to Mrs. Wright.

Seeley’s phone began to ring, startling the somber atmosphere, “Excuse me,” he apologized, stepping away to answer the phone, “Booth.”

“It’s me. I’m with Amy,” came Brennen’s voice over the line. Seeley sighed.

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

“We’re going to see the judge,” came Amy’s voice, causing Seeley to want to grind his teeth together, “I’m going to try to get an exhumation order.”

“What? Why?” Seeley was getting alarmed. He wasn’t sure the Wrights could handle an exhumation on top of everything else.

Brennen explained, “We found evidence April may not have been killed where they found her body. You want details?”

No, as a matter of fact he did not. He wanted to go home, tuck his son into bed, hold his wife, and pretend none of this was happening. “Um, it’s not a good time,” is what he said.

“We need to look at April’s remains,” Amy insisted.

“Zack decoded the phone number,” Brennen added, as if it explained everything.

Seeley’s eyebrows came together in confusion, “Who decodes phone numbers?”

“It’s not a phone number,” Brennen explained, “April met someone in Greenbelt Park the night she was murdered.”

Seeley was desperately wanting this to be over, “So she met someone in the park. What does that prove?”

Mr. Wright, hearing Seeley’s last sentence, interrupted, “Is this about April?”

Seeley decided it was time to end this conversation and try to do damage control with the Wrights. “Let me get right back to you,” he told Brennen, before hanging up.

“What’s happening now?” Mr. Wright asked so passionately, it was almost a demand.

Seeley hated himself for having to give this news, and if the exhumation was going to go through he’d have to break that to the grieving parents as well. He couldn’t imagine their pain, “Apparently some new evidence has surfaced.”

Mrs. Wright began to panic, “What kind of evidence?”

Fortunately for Seeley, Ross choose to intervene at that moment, “Why don’t you give me a few minutes with Agent Booth? Let me evaluate these new developments.”

Mr. Wright began to lead his wife out of the room, “Let’s get some coffee.”

“I’ll help,” Elizabeth added, “They don’t need me in here.” She followed the Wrights into the kitchen, making sure to shut the door behind her, as if to protect the Wrights from anything more they might have to hear. Just for a little while longer.

“So this new evidence,” Ross began, “Is this something they can bear to hear?”

Booth gave a sigh, “Well, it concerns the person April had sexual relations with the night she was murdered.”

Ross was displeased, “The judge ruled that irrelevant.”

Seeley shook his head, “It’s always hung there as a question. It’s always the basis of the appeal. If we could just ID the guy, this whole issue would just disappear.”

“It was sex in a car,” Ross protested, “It was probably another teenager. Some kid too scared to come forward.”

Alarm bells went off as Seeley looked at Ross in a new light, “Nobody said anything about sex being in the car.”

Ross shrugged, “It was a parking lot. I assume the sex act took place inside a car.”

“When April worked for your law firm on the weekends,” Seeley pressed, “what did she do, the filing?”

The lawyer nodded, “That’s right.”

“Who was with her in the office?”

“Why do you ask?” Seeley thought the man was getting too defensive.

“Well, a 17 year old girl,” he gave a shrug, “I’m sure you just wouldn’t leave her in there all by herself. What? You can’t remember? I’m sure the security logs will be able to tell us something. Refresh my memory, Mr Ross. Where were you the night that April was killed? Say around 12:30?”

“Now’s the time that I ask for my lawyer,” Ross said solemnly, “and say nothing.”

* * *

“So,” Amy Morton began as she drove herself and Brennen to the judge, “are you seeing each other?”

“Who?” Brennen asked, confused by the non-segway.

“You and Booth,” the lawyer clarified.

“No,” Brennen protested, “No, we’re working together.”

“Cause I’m picking up a bit of a sex vibe,” the brunette grinned.

“No, that’s tension,” Brennen explained. Perfectly understandable, she thought, considering the case, “He has a wife.”

“Really?” Amy said, visibly surprised. “Lemme guess: Tall, blonde, beautiful?”

“She’s actually rather short, though she is blonde, and beautiful by most western societal standards. She’s a counselor.”

“Figures,” Amy sighed while shaking her head, “Should’ve jumped him when I had the chance.”

“Considering how long Booth has been married, I doubt you ever knew him when he was unmarried. Therefore, it was unlikely you ever had a chance.”

The rest of the car ride was spent largely in silence.

* * *

Seeley was exhausted. He was in deep shit with his boss, he’d been working all night, hadn’t even gone home yet, the one time he’d seen his wife was at the home of a grieving family, they’d exhumed April Wright’s body and now he was sitting in a Judge’s kitchen while Amy desperately tried to get Epps more time.

He was very close to snapping when, in the car on their way back (to work, not to home, because he very stupidly let Amy play him and his damn guilt complex) Amy asked “when are they going to get rid of the damn death penalty?” angrily.

Thank god for Brennen, who very calmly stated “I believe in the death penalty.”

"What?” Amy practically shouted.

It was too damn early for this.

Or was it late? Does it count if he hasn’t slept yet?

“There are certain people that shouldn’t be in this world. The people who hacked hundreds of innocent children to death in Rwanda, beheaded them at their desks at school. The people who did that? They should be executed.”

Booth was proud of his partner- he’d have stammered and tried to explain himself while failing utterly (Buffy often commented on how he could read people like a book, but never explain himself well), but Bones calmly pointed out her reasoning and gave a good case.

“So why do you care about Epps?” Amy asked, her volume lower, thank god.

“Because the facts have to add up,” Brennen replied, just as Booth knew she would, “Drop me at the lab, please,” she told him.

* * *

It was an hour later, after questioning Ross and getting his confession to meeting April at the park and sleeping with her, that Booth’s phone rang.

“Booth,” he answered.

“I hate this,” his wife sighed.

“Are you still at the Wrights?” he asked incredulously- she didn’t sound like she had slept either.

“I had to call Xander and Anya to take Parker, Xander said they’d keep him for most of the day- a cousin sleepover party. Once the Wrights found out the judge had allowed them to exhume April’s body….” she sighed.

Seeley felt guilty- his wife had caught the job he’d been hoping to avoid himself: comforting the parents of a murdered girl because someone had dug up their baby from what was supposed to be her final resting place.

“I finally got Mary to go to sleep, but Mr. Wright didn’t look like he was going to close his eyes anytime soon; he finally told me to go home, said I’d done enough for one day and thanked me. He just-“ her voice wavered, “God, he looked so beat down. So broken.”

“God, baby, I’m sorry- I should’ve been there to help with-“

“Seeley don’t you dare apologize. I’ll admit to being more than a little pissed at you for starting this ball rolling- or I would be pissed if I felt awake enough to. I’m now at the “death sad, tree pretty” point.”

“You’re not driving are you?” he asked.

“I’m already home, take a deep breath,” his wife instructed. “I guess I can understand why you’re doing it, Seeley, I just- I’m not sure I agree with it. It  _might_ bring some answers, yes, but it’s also  _definitely_ causing a lot of pain.”

Seeley rubbed his temple, feeling a headache coming on- he hated being at odds with Buffy, and it happened more often then he’d like (granted, he’d mostly prefer it to never happen, though Buffy did look cute while mad, and angry sex was always- oh, god, he was at the rambling state of sleep deprivation), “I just- I don’t want there to be any doubts. I don’t feel right having a man die with doubts about it. I still believe Epps did it. I’m not sure if that’s my gut or my stubbornness telling me that at this point but,” he gave yet another sigh. It seemed to be his method for breathing at this point.

“I know, Seeley, I just- they were so heartbroken. They just want it over and done with.”

“I do, too.”

“I know you do, and I love you. No matter how crazy you drive me. Now- I’m going to try and get some sleep. Call me if you need anything.”

“I’ll try not to need anything,” he responded, “Sleep well, Buffy. I love you.”

“Always,” she told him, before hanging up.

* * *

Bone-deep exhaustion. That was all he could register as he dug up a body while Bones held the skull of another one just feet from him. She had asked what he’d be normally doing if this was a typical weekend. He’d be with his family, his friends. Playing catch in the backyard with Parker, grilling on the deck, making love to his wife. But here he was, digging up a body while his partner held the skull of another one just feet away.

“Alright, what the hell is going on here?”

* * *

“I’m sorry for wrecking your weekend for nothing,” Booth told his partner hours later after their visit with Epps; Amy had run from it in tears. Poor girl was probably having one hell of an existential crisis.

The anthropologist shook her head, “No, not for nothing.”

“Come on, you know what I mean,” he groaned in frustration, “You know, all that running around, it didn’t change anything. Epps was guilty. He was always guilty.”

“There was doubt,” she reminded him, “We had an obligation to respect that doubt. We all share in the death of every human being.”

“Very poetic,” he told her.

“No, very literal,” he bit off his “of course it is,” and listened to her explanation, “We all share DNA. When I look at a bone, it’s not some artefact that I can separate from myself. It’s a part of a person who got here the same way I did. It should never be easy to take someone’s life. I don’t care who it is,” he began to chuckle, “What?” she asked as he smiled wider, “What?”

“You know,” he told her, “you’ve been practicing your Nobel prize speech just a  _little_ too much.” He stood up with a groan, “I’m going home and I’m going to sleep. For a very long time. I’ll see you around, Bones.”

“Sleep well, Booth,” she told him.

* * *

When he entered his house, the lights were all off, Parker was still at Xander and Anya’s for a few more hours, and a message on their answering machine told him Willow and Tara had heard about their night and were taking Parker for the day. The redhead mentioned something about the zoo, but Seeley was already walking towards the bedroom.

The curtains were drawn tight, the room absolutely dark, and he stripped without bothering with pajamas. He was too exhausted to dig through the drawers in the dark. Slipping under the covers, he curled up next to his wife and closed his eyes, and let it all fade away. It was just him and Buffy and whatever he might dream.

All in all, not the worst ending.


	12. Prove It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys- sorry for the delay in updating, but I was up at a family vacation with no internet, and I'm still having trouble with my internet (in that it won't let me on Tumblr for an as-yet unknown reason) but I'm working on it and I've got a new chapter for you!

They were twenty six and twenty five when Seeley left the Rangers and started working at the FBI.

It was a dark time for Seeley, and Buffy often was at a loss as to what to do to help her husband. He was angry (mostly at himself), heartbroken (mostly at what he had, at the time, felt he had to do- and still felt was necessary when he was in his more rational moments), dangerous (to himself), and very very lost (to them both).

One thing they were both sure of was that they loved each other more than anything else in this life, they just weren’t sure if love was enough. For all that fairytales said, sometimes, they knew instinctively, love just wasn’t enough.

Seeley had gambled a few times with buddies while with the Rangers, but being home turned what was a social activity into an addiction. He did his job and did it well, one of the best in the Bureau; he seemed fine, if not totally adjusted to being back yet, to everyone.

Except Buffy.

She was frightened (of what this might mean for him), worried (for him), and so angry (because, damn it, hadn’t he already gone through enough?) but above all she was confused. She was a counselor, and a damn good one. She’d helped dozens of kids pull themselves out of their own personal hells and fight to stay in the light every single day. She’s also lost a few kids to the darkness.

She could not lose her husband to it, so she was paralyzed with uncertainty as to what to do.

On top of it all, it had been a long time since they had been living together for any longer than a few months leave and Willow was talking about moving down to D.C. with Tara so there was a lot of phone calls, apartment hunting, and best friend duties for Buffy.

She didn’t want to sacrifice Seeley for Willow, but she could do something for her best friend while she had no idea what to do for her husband other than hold him to her whenever she got the chance.

Buffy knew that Seeley had a problem; she just didn’t think Seeley saw it.

Not yet at least.

It was the night of their anniversary (not their wedding anniversary, but the anniversary of the day they met, which they had celebrated every year since they were twelve and eleven, though the method of celebration had changed over the years), and Seeley hadn’t come home.

Not truly angry, because she had been suspecting something like this for months, Buffy sat on the couch and chewed on her nails while she waited, anxiously, for her husband to come home.

She hoped.

She knew he loved her. She knew she loved him.

She didn’t know if that would be enough for them to stay together. To keep him with her. To get him to realize what was happening and choose to fight. Her husband was a fighter- as soon as he had the realization he had a problem, and he finished punishing himself, he’d start fighting it. It was getting to the point of realization that might break them.

Finally, two a.m. stuck and Seeley walked in.

When he walked into the room to see his wife sitting on the couch, in the dark because she’d clearly been too worried to turn the lights or TV on for herself, with her nails bitten to the quick, Seeley felt as if someone had sent a cement fist to punch him in the gut.

“Seeley?” his wife questioned as his eyes closed in guilt. When he opened them at her voice, the emotions he saw on her face nearly killed him.

“Oh god,” he groaned.

“Seeley?” Buffy’s voice reached new levels of panic as she stood and went to him, hands sliding up his arms to grip his biceps, “Are you sick?”

He backed away from her, feeling lower than dirt.

“It’s our anniversary,” he confessed on a whisper. How had he forgotten that? How had life slipped him by to the point where he barely noticed his wife except when he held her at night? This was  _Buffy_ \- the girl he had been in love with for twenty years. The girl who carried him through everything life had thrown at him in that time. The girl who he bragged about to fellow soldiers as they talked about home and what was waiting for them. The girl he’d told Parker stories of ad nauseam until the young man had thrown whatever was handy at his Sargent and told him “I  _get_ it, she’s your soul mate, now  _shut the hell_ up, Sarge.”

“Seeley- I really need you to tell me if you’re sick,” she replied and he felt so guilty that she was so worried she wouldn’t even get mad at him for forgetting their anniversary. Which, he now realized, was actually yesterday, since it was well past midnight by then.

“I love you,” he told her, whispering it like it was shameful. And it was. “I love you and I keep hurting you. What kind of person  _does_ that? I married you and left you within a few weeks. You were seventeen; you never got a chance to be with anyone else who would’ve been so much better for you, because I was so selfish. And when your mother died I couldn’t stay with you- I left again. I come back for half a year, tops, then ship off again. I keep leaving you.”

“Seeley, that’s not-“ she shook her head, her voice wavering, “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?” he interrupted, finally looking up at her, his eyes hardened with self-hatred. “I see it now.”

“See what?” she asked, tentatively, knowing she wouldn’t like the answer.

“What I am.”

“Were,” she shook her head, “Seeley- we’re not teenagers anymore and you’re not a Ranger anymore and someday you won’t be an FBI Agent anymore because people change and I don’t regret-“

He cut her off harshly, enough where she took a step back at the venom in his voice, “You should.

“You really, really should, Buffy. I  _haven’t_ changed- you have. You’ve gotten more beautiful and wonderful every day, but I’ve stayed, and life, life’s just been chipping off pieces of me. And I can’t keep doing this to you. I’m all messed up. I just- the gambling. I can’t stop.”

“Damn it, Seeley, if you want to, then fight it.”

“It’s too hard,” he shuddered, eyes closing and head bowing.

“Seeley, please, you have to listen to me.”

“I dream about holding you and telling you everything. Losing everything inside of you and just  _being_ with you. And I never have to leave and I just stay, there, with you, forever.”

“Then  _stay_ .”

“I want to, I want to so badly! But I can’t. It would be heaven for me, but you- you deserve so much more than this, baby.

“Look, I'm weak. I've never been anything else,” he added, his hand settling on the doorknob, causing Buffy’s heart to drop.

“You’re weak!” she shouted at him, finally letting herself feel all the anger. She’d been patient, she’d given space, now, damn it, she wanted her husband back and here and she would fight everyone- including him- to be with Seeley. “Everybody is. Everybody fails. Seeley, you have a power to do good in this world, to make amends. But if you leave now, then all you’ve ever done is leave me. Just like you said. Seeley,  _please_ , stay. You can stop leaving now.

“I’ve  _never_ thought that you were always leaving me. We’ve spent all this time coming back to each other. You’ve  _always_ come back to me.”

“Buffy, you should have more-“

“I won’t!” she practically screamed, “I  _won’t_ have more because nothing, no one, could  _ever_ mean to me half as much as you do. Seeley, you think you’re the only one who dreams of getting lost together, forever? I would give up everything I have to- I get to choose what I want, Seeley. And all I’ve ever wanted is you.”

Now he got angry, “What? You think this is simple?” he sneered, “You think there is an easy answer? You can never understand what I’ve done!”

“I don’t need to!” she shouted back, “I just need to understand what you need, Seeley, I need to understand you- not the sniper, not the Agent, not the soldier, just you. You are more than your actions, Seeley, more than your orders. You have been a part of my soul since I was six years old and if you think I’m giving that up for such a lame ass excuse, then you’ve got another thing coming!”

“Am I worth being with?” he asks her, “Worth spending the rest of your life sewing back together broken pieces of a man, huh? Am I a righteous man? Anyone would tell you you’re better off with me gone!”

“What about me? Do I get a say in my own life? You do  _not_ get to make my decisions for me, Seeley Booth. I’ve decided on you. What you do now is your call. 

“I hate it, I hate that everything is  _so_ hard, and that you can hurt me  _so_ much. I  _wish_ I hated you, but I don’t. I can’t.”

“Buffy, please, let me be strong here.”

“Strong is fighting! It’s hard, and it’s painful, and it’s every day. It’s what we have to do. And we can do it together. But if you’re too much of a coward to stay, then leave. If I can’t convince you to stay with me, to fight, then I don’t know what can. But do  _not_ expect me to ever think that you leaving was for my own good. And don’t expect me to feel sorry or pathetic because I am fighting. I am right here and fighting. And I always thought that you’d fight with me, but I guess I was wrong.”

They stood in the front hall, silent as Seeley’s hand tensed on the doorknob and Buffy held her breath. Seeley leaving would devastate her, but it would not break her. She had decided. She would live, but it would be a half-life, and it would kill her, every day, to know he had given up on them.

“Do you remember the first time you told me you loved me? As more than just an old friend?” he whispered, still facing the door.

“I remember every day with you,” she responded softly, wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to keep it together, she continued, “I was fifteen, and you had taken me to an ice skating rink, it was practically empty and it seemed like it was just us in the whole place. You’d slipped on the ice and cut yourself,” she gave a small chuckle, “Kept trying to be macho man, and refused to let me look at it. Finally I pulled you so you fell and landed on your butt, middle of the rink.”

“You bent down, stared me right in the face, and told me I’d have to deal with your fussing because you loved me,” he finished for her, tears slipping down both their faces. “I love you,” he told her, turning his head over his shoulder to look at her, standing there. The front hall light lit up her golden hair like a aura and made her almost look like an apparition of some saint, standing before him with heavenly light streaming behind her.

“So prove it,” she challenged.

He took his hand off the doorknob.


	13. Competition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To recap the episode: Brennan's former professor and ex-lover, Michael, comes to Washington, D.C. and the two quickly resume their relationship. After Brennan and her team help Booth identify a young woman found in a refrigerator, they proceed to find out who had killed the woman. As Brennan works to gather evidence for the prosecution, she discovers that Michael has been appointed as an expert witness for the defense.

Elizabeth looked up from her computer to see Seeley smiling at her in the doorway of her office.

"Hey," she greeted, and he stepped into the room. "What're you doing here?" she knew something was up, a good something, because he had that boyish smirk on his face that he got whenever he thought he was being particularly charming.

"Well, Bones has a date tonight, so I can't do any work till she gets me the science on the remains, which means I have a free night and your boss just told me you could clock out any time now. I'm thinking, we grab Parker and go out."

"And where do you suggest we take our four year old maniac?"

Seeley slid a paper onto her desk, letting her pick it up and examine it.

"Movie night in the park? Finding Nemo. Very nice work, Agent Booth."

"Well, I didn't get the Special Agent title for nothing."

"Mmm hmm," she agreed as he finally bent down to kiss her hello. "Ok, let me grab my coat and I will meet you at home."

"I look forward to it," he replied with another kiss before leaving. She shook her head. He was in a strangely good mood.

* * *

When she pulled her car into the driveway she wasn't surprised to see that Seeley had beat her there, or that he had already told the plan to Parker. Or that Parker was running around like a chicken without a head.

"Woah," she shouted as the four-year-old barreled into her as she walked through the front door. "I guess you know what we're doing tonight."

"Finding Nemo!" he shouted, "Can we go now?"

She chuckled, "Well, we can go to the park, but you won't be able to watch the movie until it gets dark." She followed her son into the kitchen where she found Seeley packing up a picnic basket- it was an old basket that they'd had since they were teenagers. Seeley had picked it up one day while they were wandering a flea market in search of some supplies for Xander's project for American History class. The next day he had surprised her with a picnic behind the school bleachers. Though, as she recalled it, not much food was eaten.

"Parker- why don't you get your glove and we'll throw some balls at the park before the movie starts."

"Ok!" the child shouted and dashed to his room. Buffy winced as she heard his feet pounding up the steps.

"Our little elephant," Seeley joked, pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Hmmm. And we're trying to get another one of those?"

"Of course. Elephants travel in herds." He grinned as his wife laughed.

"And how many exactly make a herd?" she asked, one eyebrow raised in challenge.

"As many as I can get," he responded, kissing her before she could protest. They separated again as Parker could be heard pounding back down the steps.

"I got my glove!" he shouted, dashing into the kitchen.

"So I see," his mother calmly replied as she grabbed it to put into the picnic basket. She then went to the hall closet for a blanket they could all sit on. Knowing Parker would probably pass out during the movie, she also went upstairs and snagged Mr. Raymond. Thinking on it, she grabbed a couple of old pillows they had lying around as well- might as well be comfortable.

Seeley rolled his eyes when he saw all her supplies, but wisely did not say anything. His wife liked her comfort and he liked his marriage.

They piled into Seeley's car and half an hour later they were at the park. Buffy watched as her boys played catch before Parker decided it was time to tackle his dad. She laughed as Seeley obligingly fell to the ground, yelling for her to help him. When Parker turned to look at her, she merely lifted a thumbs up and gave her son a wink, making the boy grin as broad as he could and laugh with abandonment as he climbed all over his father.

When the movie started Elizabeth found herself squished between two sweaty boys. She gave a token protest in the form of a high pitched "eww!" before settling against Seeley with Parker in her lap. Just as she predicted, halfway through the movie, Parker was out like a light, Mr. Raymond clutched tightly in his hands. She was comfortable where she was though, so they stayed there till the credits had finished rolling and the majority of the audience (many of them carrying sleeping children of their own) had left or mostly gone.

They got up slowly, Seeley cradling Parker against him while Elizabeth gathered up the last of the picnic stuff they had brought. They walked hand-in-hand back to the car and chatted aimlessly.

"My new hours start this week so we can give Willow a bit of a break on all the babysitting," she told him.

"She'll be heartbroken," he semi-joked.

"Well, I'll enjoy it," she told him as he settled Parker into his car seat. In a well-coordinated dance, he took the basket to the trunk while she buckled in the still-sleeping boy. That done, they began the drive home, sneaking peaks at Parker once in a while to check on his alertness.

"I've told you before how glad I am that I know you, right?" Seeley asked suddenly.

She smiled softly at him, "You tell me that every day. Not always in words, but," she shrugged, "You still get the message across."

"Good, because you- Parker- everything we have- I am grateful for it. And a lot of it is because of you. I'm glad you were there to pull me back eight years ago."

"Well, I wouldn't have any of this either if not for you. And I'll always be there to pull you back. Same as you'd do for me."

* * *

Back at home they tucked Parker in bed, making sure Mr. Raymond was beside him and the nightlight was on.

"So, Temperance had a date you said?" Elizabeth asked as she changed.

"Yup- her former teacher," Seeley said with a waggle of his brows.

Buffy giggled, "So she's hot for teacher?"

He groaned, "Just when I think I can't love you more-"

"I make obnoxious Van Halen references?"

"Exactly."

"So what was this teacher like?"

"Strange- he was like Bones but not. Apparently they've had dinner on autopsy tables before," he added with a shrug.

"Says the man who once had dinner with me on the roof outside my bedroom window."

"Hey-" he pointed at her for emphasis, "That was romantic."

"That was you afraid to face my mother."

"Damn right. But it was also romantic."

She laughed as she crawled into bed next to him. "Good night, Seeley."

"Good night, Buffy. I love you."

"Love you," she muttered into his chest before falling asleep there, ear pressed against his heart.

* * *

Seeley wondered again how it was that mornings that start off so excellently can go downhill so fast. Buffy had woken him this morning with kisses  _everywhere_  and he had been late to work because of it ( _worth it_ ), but now he sat with grieving parents, informing them of the death of their daughter.

 _Yup_ , he thought,  _downhill fast._

"I know it sounds terrible," Mrs. Schilling was saying, "but I hoped that she had just run away. That way I could believe she was still alive."

"She started turning against us in high school. Did a lot of drugs," Mr. Schilling explained, "We tried to help her. Sent her to rehab, therapy."

"Kids have a lot to contend with these days," Booth told them with a small shrug, he knew he stressed about stuff like that with Parker, and he was only four- nowhere near high school, thank god.

"We didn't help her," Mrs. Schilling confessed, shaking her head, visibly distressed, "Not really. We had nannies to raise her because we were so busy, and we sent her to shrinks when she had problems instead of talking to her."

Booth had to wonder if Mrs. Shilling wasn't on to something there- and was momentarily glad for his and Buffy's more hands-on approach with their child before he pushed his thoughts to the side and concentrated on the investigation.

"You can't blame yourself," he told the desolate mother. He couldn't imagine the pain of losing your child and never wished to.

"Environment plays a huge role in development," Brennen said informatively. All three looked at her while Booth cleared his throat slightly. Realizing Booth was trying to get her to change the subject, she continued, "I'd like some pictures of Maggie so I can compare them to her remains. Pictures of her dancing or swimming would be best."

"How did you know she danced and swam?" Mrs. Schilling asked as she reached for the photo album on the coffee table before her.

"Some things can't be erased from the body," Bones replied with a shrug.

Seeley braced himself- now was the difficult part: interviewing grieving parents always left him feeling slightly guilty. "I'm sorry, but I need to ask you about your daughter's drug problems."

* * *

"Hey," Buffy greeted him in his office after his interview with Mary Costello. "How's the case going?'

"Well, I think we've got them, Bones seems confident and we've got the new refrigerator receipt two days after negotiations for ransom with the Schillings got cut off."

"Excellent. It'll be good for the Schillings to get some sort of closure. Why does it seem so many young people get killed and their parents are left behind?"

Seeley stepped forward and pulled her close. After a moment, he decided a distraction was necessary.

"So, what'd you bring me for lunch?"

"What makes you think I brought you lunch?"

"Don't try to fool an FBI Agent, Mrs. Booth," he replied, "I can see the take-out bag behind you."

"Well, aren't you clever. And it's from Wong Foo's so I have no idea- I just let Sid pack whatever he wanted."

"You brilliant woman, you. He never makes take out for me."

"That's because you're not blonde," she teased.

"How's being part-time going?" Seeley asked.

"I like getting off work early enough to have lunch with you and pick Parker up from Preschool. It feels good. Of course, we'll see how I am in a week when I'm bored out of my mind."

"You didn't go too stir crazy while you were on maternity leave," Seeley reminded her.

"I was also the size of a beached whale, so I wasn't really interested in doing anything at all."

"You were a beautiful pregnant woman."

"You think that cuz you're the one who got me pregnant."

Seeley grinned, "Possibly. I guess we'll never know."

* * *

When Booth arrived at the Jeffersonian after lunch with Buffy he found Bones just about glowing from competitive energy. The professor obviously brought that side of his partner out in full. He stood on the platform next to Michael as Bones and Zach pulled some science up on the computer.

"You trained her well, Doc," he tells the other man.

"She's brilliant," Michael admitted with a shake of his head, "Little cocky, though."

Booth couldn't help but chuckle at that, "Yeah. Tell me about it." He became more serious then, "Pretty good partner, though. What you see is what you get. That's a  _rare_  quality," he looked over at the other man, "That's just between us, isn't it?"

Before the professor could respond, Bones called him over. And the competition was on.

* * *

It was while he was delivering the evidence packet to the prosecution that he found out exactly who Dr. Stires was meeting with. He immediately went back to the Jeffersonian.

Walking up the catwalk he heard Angela and Bones talking.

"That's good, even," he heard Angela say, "Just be honest about it."

Oh, he  _really_  hoped they weren't discussing what he thought they were discussing because then his news could not come at a worse time.

"Bones?" he decides to ease into it, "The Judge is holding them without bail. The U.S. Attorney is thinking of sending you flowers."

"The facts are the facts," his partner says delightedly with a shrug.

 _Aw, crap_ , is the only thing he can think as he tries to phrase his question as delicately as possible. "Bones, I have to ask. Uh- how much have you been sharing with, uh, the professor?"

"None of your business," Bones immediately retorts.

"No, uh, I mean, on the case."

"Oh," she responded, unconcerned, "I bounce everything off him. Why?"

"Well," he thought, maybe, if he implied it he wouldn't have to outright say it to her, "You gotta keep him out of it from now on."

"Out of it?" Bones' pitch went slightly higher than usual, a sign she was thinking of protesting, "Why?"

"Well, you know that appointment he had today?"

"Yeah," she drew out the word slightly. He sighed. Clearly, she wasn't connecting the dots like he hoped. It was a selfish wish, he'd admit, but nonetheless-

"He met with the Costello's lawyer. Michael is their expert witness." He watched his partner's face register her shock, "It's his job to tear apart the case that you've built."

* * *

"So he was  _spying_  on her?" Buffy asks incredulously as he fixes dinner that night. She sits at the counter, placing herself so she can talk to him and keep an eye on Parker in the living room with some toys at the same time.

Seeley shrugged as he reached for the parsley, "Looks like. I just- I don't know what to think. He's a squint so there might be a totally different set of social rules for them."

"Ah ha- so you admit squints can socialize, they just have their own rules," he gave his wife a smile- she was trying to cheer him up and he appreciated it, but he felt guilty. "Seeley, it's not your fault," Buffy said with exasperation, as she read his mind. He both loved and hated when she did that.

"I know, it's just-"

"You're the one who had to tell Temperance?" she paused in his conversation to yell into the living room, "Parker don't do that, you'll break the lamp!"

He smirked- Parker was convinced Buffy had eyes in the back of her head, and he wasn't so sure his son was wrong.

His wife focused back to him, "Temperance is a grown woman, Seeley, you don't need to and you, in fact,  _can't_  always protect her from the world. She's a big girl and this professor is a big boy. They'll sort their own problems out between the two of them and all you can do is be supportive of your partner."

He groaned, "I hate how you're always right."

"You only hate it when I tell you things you don't want to hear," she told him.

"And, yet again, you're right."

* * *

When Booth arrived at the Jeffersonian the next morning (he was late, again. Something which he was willing to entirely blame on his wife) he saw the professor examining the bones while the entire team looked on.

"He still at it?" he asked Angela.

"Yup, and it is  _fascinating_ ," she replied with the tone of someone who was watching paint dry.

"Well, you keep an eye on him," he told Dr. Goodman who was standing as sternly as the man knew how (and that was  _stern_ ) beside the artist.

"That's not going to be a problem," the man informed him, nodding in the direction of Zack and Hodgins, who were hovering not far from the autopsy table, camera trained on Stires as it recorded.

Booth looked over and gave them a subtle thumbs-up, which they returned.

"Did you just give Zack and Hodgins a sign of  _encouragement_?" Angela asked, much more lively now that she could talk about the living.

"Well, you know, that's the first time I've been able to look at them without imagining Mo," he bumped his two fists together with a click of his tongue, "knocking their heads together."

Goodman grinned, "Agent Booth, you're accessing your inner squint."

Seeley gave a grimace as the morning continued.

* * *

"Bones, you OK?" Booth asked, practically running after his partner.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she answered, trying to sound unaffected.

"Well, because the nutty professor is grading your paper. What he'd give you anyway, huh?" he asked, trying to gauge where her head was at. "I was always happy with a B."

"I never got a B and I never will," Bones replied with a determined smirk. Seeley stopped chasing after her and grinned as she sashayed away.

"That's my girl," he muttered to himself, sure they were in the clear.

* * *

It was lunchtime and his office was getting quite crowded. There was the U.S. Attorney, the Jury Consultant, Bones, himself, and he knew Buffy would be arriving any moment with lunch before she went to get Parker from school.

Introducing everyone, he sat down at his desk, ready to listen to the Attorney and Ms. Deaver's thoughts on their case.

"I looked over your findings," Levitt, the attorney, was telling Bones, "and I think we're in good shape."

"Thank you," Bones replied, "I-"

"But juries don't like you," cut in Deaver.

"Excuse me?" Bones asked as Booth's eyebrows shot up at the woman's rudeness.

"I've seen you testify before, Dr. Brennen. You come off as cold and aloof. I want to make sure-"

Bones was the one cutting her off this time, "Cold and aloof?" she repeated incredulously.

"Try not interrupting. It makes you sound arrogant. Also," she continued, oblivious to the both Brennen and Booths' surprised gazes, "Don't frontload your testimony with technical crap."

"This really is not the best approach," Booth tried to intervene, and at that precise moment, an angel arrived.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Seeley, I didn't realize you were in a meeting, I'll go wait with the guys, catch up with them," his wife said from the doorway, gesturing behind her to the other Agents who had greeted her enthusiastically (Buffy usually bribed (Seeley's word choice) them with baked goods and they all were just as in love with his wife as he was).

"No, no," he said, eager to have his wife's calming presence in the room. She was usually pretty good at ironing out people's differences and getting them to work together. If she could get himself and Xander to work together, Booth was convinced she could get any team functioning. "Come in. Buffy, this is U.S. Attorney Levitt, you remember him, and this is Ms. Deaver, a Jury Consultant. My wife," he introduced.

"Hello," Buffy said, shaking both of their hands, "I'm so sorry to interrupt, normally Seeley and I have lunch together, I didn't realize he was still busy."

"Not a problem, Mrs. Booth, it's good to see you again," Levitt, who had met Buffy on previous occasions when she had been called on to testify as a counselor.

"And you. I take it you are discussing Seeley's latest case?"

"Yes- Maggie Schilling," he told his wife, with a significant look between Bones and Deaver. She gave a slight nod in understanding.

"Such a shame what happened to her. It's horrible. What's your opinion on the case, Ms. Deaver?"

"Well, as I was just saying, Dr. Brennen needs to cut down on the technical BS in her testimony,"

"I'm a  _technical_  witness!" Bones protested, "I have testified in over 30 trials," she added.

"But most of the experts you've come up against are just as dry and boring as you are," Deaver continued, as Buffy watched the two women, eyebrows raised high. "Now I don't know if you've seen their expert-"

"She's seen him, Ms. Deaver," Seeley cut in.

"Well," she sighed, "Then you understand my concern. Professor Stires is open, charming, great-looking. Jury's gonna love him.  _I_ love him."

"This isn't a personality contest," Brennen protested again, looking a little in shock at Deaver's words, "It's about data that we present to the jury."

"You're kidding, right?" Deaver said, voice flat.

"No," Brennen said, equally serious.

Buffy chose this time to cut in. "What I think Miss Deaver is trying to get at, Temperance, is that visual stimulus can influence the average person's thought process. People who are more attractive are shown to be considered more trustworthy by strangers."

"Yes, that is true," Brennen acknowledged.

"So, Professor Stires has a slight edge in that respect," Elizabeth continued, "Miss Deaver wants to make sure that we have just as much an edge to even it out so that the facts will be able to speak for themselves. Without influence."

"Wear blue," Deaver orders, "It suggests truth. Make eye contact with the jury and  _lose_  the clunky necklace."

"Ok," Seeley interrupted, "We'll take that under consideration. Thanks."

Levitt and Deaver exited the office and Bones began to pace.

"Well," Buffy remarked, "What crawled up her butt and died?"

Seeley gave a snort and smiled at his wife as she placed some take out boxes on his desk.

"Why didn't she say anything about you?" Bones asked, gesturing towards Booth, "You can be very irritating sometimes."

"Tell me about it," Buffy remarked dryly. Clearly, he couldn't expect help from his wife here.

"Bones, she's an expert. Just like you," he paused, "She has an obvious personality disorder, but she wants to help. Just- try?"

"Ok," Bones said, arms still crossed, "Sure."

"Thank you," Seeley murmured gratefully, pressing his hands together and nodding at his partner in a gesture of his gratitude.

Bones gave him a small smile, "I can do it."

"Of course you can, you said over thirty trials? I think you just need to keep your heads, try not to murder Ms. Deavers, and it'll all work out." She paused before continuing, "And even if you do end up killing her, you guys would probably be able to get away with it easily enough."

Seeley chuckled while Bones nodded slightly. "I'll leave you to your lunch," she told them, before leaving the couple in the office.

"Thanks for the help," Seeley whispered against his wife's temple as he kissed her there. She had perched herself on his desk, so she was at the perfect height.

"Always glad to help, but seriously- what is her childhood trauma?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Seeley told her as he reached for his lunch.

* * *

The trial the next day was…brutal. Seeley thought it was all going well (Hodgins managed to be perfectly competent as a witness, and Angela had been herself and completely charmed the entire room) but then Bones got on the stand. Seeley was of the opinion that Deaver's words had had the reverse effect she had intended. Bones was in blue, and had no necklace, but her words were even more technical than usual, probably due to self-consciousness caused by the professor and Deavers.

Like he said, brutal.

And Bones was not happy with his opinion on her testimony.

"Listen, Bones," he tried to explain, "I know you care a lot about this case, but I think you should let them see that."

"So I should perform?" she asked sarcastically.

"Just a little bit," he said in a rush. "But, yeah, I mean, do you see how I portrayed myself as a no-nonsense tough-guy cop?"

"You  _are_  a no-nonsense tough-guy cop."

"Exactly!" he cheered, "And I think that, it wouldn't hurt, if the jury saw who you  _really_ are."

"Well, I don't know who you think that is Booth," Bones replied, clearly getting upset, "Because this is who I really am. Just… _this_." And she walked away.

This was not going to go well.

* * *

Stires testimony was everything Deavers had feared and worse. He called Brennen into question more than once, tried to drag her through the mud. Booth found himself more than a little pissed on behalf of his partner.

"He wasn't acting as an objective expert. He was making up a story," Bones protested to Levitt and Deavers after the second round.

"The judge chastised him in front of the jury. That'll work for us," Levitt insisted.

"The hell it will," Deavers interjected. "The jury loved Stires. He looks like a regular guy who's not allowed to speak the truth because the stupid rules get in the way."

"The rules of jurisprudence aren't stupid," Brennen immediately fired back.

"Dr. Brennan, you need to learn the difference between reality and perception. A trial is all about perception."

"Wow," Bones said solemly. "You're the reason civilization is declining."

Deavers turned to Booth, "Talk to her," she pleaded.

Seeley gave a shrug, "I kinda agree with her."

With a huffy look, Deavers stormed off. She passed by Buffy who turned to look after her with some confusion.

"Thanks," Bones said as soon as the woman was gone.

"I don't really agree with you," he confessed to her, "I just- I don't like her."

"Can't blame you," Elizabeth chimed in as she joined them. "Trial not going well, I take it?"

"Put me back on the stand," Brennen turned to Levitt. "I can rebut  _everything_  Michael said."

"She can do this," Bones chimed in.

Levitt gave a sigh, "I'll think about it," he promised before leaving the trio alone.

"I've never been in this position before, Booth," Bones told her partner, and Seeley could see it was getting to her, "I  _need_  to get back up there."

"Alright," he told her, placing a hand on her arm, "Just let me talk to him."

"Seeley?" Buffy questioned as he left the two women to talk with Levitt. Buffy chewed on her bottom lip, not sure if she was going to like what Seeley had in mind.

And she really doubted Temperance was going to like it.

She turned to the woman in question, "How are you doing, Temperance?"

"I feel very ineffectual and I dislike the fact that the facts aren't enough for some people."

Buffy gave a sigh, "Well, that's true. Some people operate more on feeling than thinking."

"Like Booth?" Brennen questioned.

"Like Seeley," Buffy confirmed with a nod, "And me. We're both like that. It's partially just how our brains work and how we see the world. We can't see the things you do, Temperance. We just can't. But, likewise, there are some things we see that you don't. No one way is the right way."

"But facts are what grounds us- facts are solid and tangible while feeling is inexact at best."

Buffy gave a small grin, "You're telling me that science is never wrong? In the whole of human history?"

"Well, of course it has been wrong. Science is an evolving process."

"And it still is evolving. And feeling may seem inexact to you, Temperance, but for people who don't have quite the same grasp for facts that you do, it's very comforting. It helps use make quick judgments about people and decisions about what to do in situations. We're not as bogged down in theories and formulas and numbers as you can get. Sure, it's imperfect, but so is science.

"You have to explain this stuff to Seeley, he's pretty average American mind. Practice on him. Or me. Or Angela. Find someone like that and practice."

Bones sighed as she saw Booth start to walk back to them from his discussion with Levitt.

"You know what you need?" Elizabeth said to Bones, who shook her head, "You need a detox. After the trial is over, you me and Angela should have a girl's night. We'll go get drunk and call Seeley and force him to drive us all home. Blow off steam."

"I don't know," Bones hedged.

"I'll text Angela about it, see what she says," Buffy insisted.

"Why me? Why not Hodgins?" Seeley asked, catching the part about his chauffeur duties.

"You want Hodgins around me while I'm drunk?" his wife asked rhetorically, turning to look at him.

"Good point. You do get kinda handsy while drunk, and I'd like to reap the benefits myself."

* * *

"What'd you say to Levitt about Temperance?" she questioned as they drove to pick up Parker.

"I just suggested a certain line of questioning," Seeley answered evasively.

"Seeley," she warned.

"You're not going to like it, and I'd rather not get into it, so can we drop it?" he asked, exhausted.

Buffy gave a soft sigh, "Alright, but just remember that if I feel Temperance needs some sort of compensation, I do know every single embarrassing story that you've ever lived through. And I will be getting drunk with her later."

Seeley grimaced, "I'll take it."

* * *

"Guilty on all counts," Angela announced as she checked on Brennen in her office later that night.

Temperance looked up from a photo of her parents, "Yeah."

"So," the artist continued, "he owes you another dinner, huh?"

Her friend gave a slight sniff, "No. I won't be seeing him anymore."

"Sorry."

Brennen shook her head, "I was foolish to be so open with him. It was irrational. You know how you get when you're tired."

"Yeah," Angela studied her friend for a moment, "You wanna go out? Grab a drink? Elizabeth said she's got tequila at her place if you don't feel like a bar."

"Um," Bones said, "I think I just want to work."

"Okay." The artist nodded before leaving the room. As she walked away, she pulled out her cellphone.

BRING TEQUILA TO JEFF.

IT'S A CODE RED.

A.M.

Booth passed by Angela as he went into Brennen's office.

"Hey, Bones."

His partner refused to make eye contact with him, "What is it? I'm not feeling very forgiving."

"Yeah, I know. I just. I, um, I am sorry."

She gave a tight nod. She was sure by the morning she'd have forgiven him. Logically, she knew she probably would've done the same thing. He had a goal to accomplish and found the most logical way to getting what he needed. But for tonight she was going to have a good sulk.

* * *

Half an hour later Angela entered Brennen's office again to see her friend was not doing work as she had suggested, but rather aimlessly paging through various medical journals.

"Ok- you're moping. This requires tequila," the artist immediately announced.

"Ang, I don't really feel like going anywhere," Brennen trailed off.

"That's why we're bringing the tequila to you," Buffy announced as she entered the office. "You got any glasses? If not, we can probably just use beakers. I had a friend in college who was a chemistry major, constantly used beakers and other lab equipment for extra glasses during parties."

"I'm way ahead of you," Angela replied, pulling out three beakers.

"I don't know if alcohol is such a good idea," Brennen gave a token protest as Elizabeth poured.

"Alcohol is never a good idea, sweetie," Angela replied, "It's the best idea."

"That makes no sense," Temperance retorted.

"Never mind that," Buffy said, handing her a very full beaker. "Drink up."

* * *

Two hours later there were three very drunk women in Dr. Temperance Brennen's office at the Jeffersonian.

"I told you," Angela was saying, "Men can't handle someone showing them up."

"I'm sure that Michael wasn't trying to show me up at the trial. That was such a petty reason for risking letting two murderers go."

"I agree with Angie," Buffy said from her place on the floor.

"Men," Angela snorted into her beaker.

"Well, not that part," Buffy clarified. "I really don't think men and women are that different. Just how society treats them."

"You're a very lucid drunk," Brennen said as Angela added a "huh?"

"Men are "leaders" and "authoritative," women are "bossy" and "bitches"."

"Here here," Angela cried.

"But no one likes being shown up. Man or woman."

"Easy for you to say," Angela retorted. "With your Boothy Booth."

"It's true. Booth is very secure in his masculinity. And probably has no fears of you surpassing him in the same career or the traditional masculine pursuits."

Buffy outright snorted, "Oh, god, have I not told you the kickboxing story?"

"Ooooh. Does it end with sweaty times on the mats?" Angela asked.

"No, it ends with me kicking Seeley's ass."

"I'm all ears," the artist replied after considering for a moment.

"Our High school had a kickboxing unit in gym class every year. And every year Seeley and I would partner up. Mostly because Seeley didn't like other boys touching me."

Angela let out a giggle while Brennen muttered something about gender roles and alpha males.

"Anyways, my dad was actually an old kickboxing champ from his days in school. You can't tell it to look at him, but my dad can probably punch out just about anyone's lights, and he always made sure I knew how to protect myself. I'm not sure how Seeley never realized, we probably just never thought to talk about it. But the first time we had the kickboxing unit Seeley grabbed me from behind and I had him on his back in five seconds flat." Buffy gave a giggle, "And every year after that."

"What'd he say about your dad?" Angela asked. "He get all worried your daddy'd beat him up for touching his daughter?"

"Seeley's eyes must've been the size of saucers.

"Of course," Buffy continued, "Now I have to swear you both to secrecy. Seeley's bad boy rep will never hold up if people found out his wife can kick his ass."

All three women laughed before groaning.

"Oh, god," Angela said, "Elizabeth, I think it's time for you to call your not-quite-so-tough husband to get us all home."

"I think so," Buffy replied, digging out her phone and dialing. "Hey, babe. I'm calling for taxi service."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love that drunk scene, it cracks me up. As does the kickboxing story. In this lifetime or any other- you do not mess with Buffy. Drop a review & tell me what you thought!


	14. Come Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I don't like to do this to Buffy. But I feel it's necessary. Sorry.

When Buffy woke up she gave a slight groan. She was sore  _everywhere_. And uncomfortably hot. Both were the fault of her husband, who was snoring next to her, arms wrapped around her and holding her far too close to his body heat, which, with no clothes in the way, felt like a furnace. It, of course, didn't help that it was mid-August.

Buffy gave another groan before trying to scoot away from her husband and get some more sleep without suffering heatstroke. Seeley, however, seemed to have other ideas as his arms only tightened at her wiggling and his mouth found her neck.

It was too hot for this.

"Seeley, it is way too hot."

She received no response but a slight moan.

Still asleep then.

How was the man not burning alive? Granted, her body probably produced significantly less heat than his simply because of size. Not fair.

"Seeley."

He started lightly snoring again.

"Seeley."

The arms around her tightened yet again. Soon breathing might become an issue.

"Seeley!"

He gave a slight snort as his snores cut off and he woke.

"Hmm?"

"Get off, it's way too hot and I need to breathe. Plus, you were snoring."

"Sorry," he muttered as his arms loosened slightly and she could practically  _hear_  him drifting back to sleep.

"Seeley!"

Her husband groaned loudly into her neck. The heat of his breathe was extremely uncomfortable.

"Why is it so goddamn hot?"

"Because it is mid-August in Philadelphia. Get up. We should go see Pops today."

"I just got home, let me sleep."

"Seeley, you got home yesterday afternoon and we went straight to bed."

"Yeah, but we didn't do much sleeping."

"Up. You know how excited he is to see you and you'll feel guilty for ever suggesting putting it off once you wake up."

"Alright alright," he muttered, finally letting her waist go as he flopped onto his back. She took the opportunity to escape to the bathroom where she took as cold a shower as she could stand.

* * *

It took two hours, but they finally arrived at what Seeley affectionately referred to as "the old homestead" which really was the house his grandfather had raised the boys in. It was neither that old nor a homestead.

The door practically flew open and two men who Buffy personally thought got more and more similar every day began to grin like goofball two year olds.

"Shrimp!"

"Pops!" Buffy rolled her eyes as the two Booth men embraced before the elder caught sight of her.

"And the ever lovely Mrs. Booth," he greeted as he pulled her in for a hug.

"Hi, Pops," she said as she gave him a squeeze in return. "How're you? Being careful in the heat?" she eyed him, waiting to spot the lie. Pops never would admit to being anything but on his best behavior.

Rather like his grandsons.

"Of course, come in, come in, lemme look at you," the last was directed at Seeley, who hadn't been home for the past year. Letters and phone calls were one thing, but it didn't compare to having a loved one in front of you.

Both Buffy and Seeley gave a sigh as they walked into the air conditioned house. (Buffy quickly decided the next apartment she chose would have an A/C unit or she would hunt until she found one that did.)

"Now, let me get you two something to drink," Pops said, beginning to make for the kitchen.

"Don't be ridiculous," Buffy interrupted him, "I know you boys want to do your bonding thing so I'll go pretend to be super busy getting some water for everyone and you two can do your Booth thing."

"You do remember you're a Booth," her husband teased.

"Ah, but I wasn't born one so it'll never quite be the same," she responded.

"Well, maybe you weren't born a Booth," Pops joked, "But you were born to be one- you're just as stubborn as all of us."

"Survival skill with you boys," Buffy answered over her shoulder as she walked into the kitchen.

Grandfather and grandson made towards the living room, knowing Buffy would take at least a half hour putzing around the kitchen to let them catch up on their own.

"How're you really, Shrimp?" Hank Booth asked, fixing his grandson with a firm stare.

"I'm OK, Pops," the younger man insisted. It only took one silent look from his grandfather for him to cave, "Ok, ok. It's…not quite what I was expecting. The Rangers. I mean, I love it, Pops, don't get me wrong, and I'm proud of what I can do but-"

"Yeah, it's the but that gets you every time," the veteran nodded, understanding what his grandson was saying without words.

"It's better when I'm with Buffy. But," he gives a self-deprecating shrug, "what isn't?"

"That's some girl you found yourself," his grandfather nodded, allowing Seeley to transition to the lighter subject.

"Hmm. I don't think I found her so much as looked up and saw her there."

Hank shook his head, "It's amazing really. You two. Sometimes I have trouble believing you're for real. But then she comes over and bullies me into eating vegetables and it's suddenly very believable."

Seeley gave a chuckle. It was nice to know his loved ones were looking out for each other.

"How's Jared?" he asked.

"You could call your brother yourself and find out," Pops immediately shot back.

"Pops," Seeley groaned, "You know that's just going to end in a fight."

"So fight," the elderly man told him, "You need to talk to your brother. He's thinking of joining the Navy."

"Figures he'd go Navy not Army," Seeley snorted before his grandfather smacked him once upside the head.

"Call your brother while you're home," he ordered.

"Don't worry," Buffy said as she walked into the room trying to balance three glasses of water with plenty of ice, Seeley stood up immediately to help her and Hank couldn't help the pleased smile on his face as he watched his grandson causally press a kiss to his granddaughter-in-law's temple before passing a glass to him, "I'll force him into it."

"Good to know I have the sensible one on my side," he chuckled.

"Wait-" Seeley interjected, " _Buff_  is the sensible one? Am I in some alternate universe?"

His wife merely sent him a faux glare before turning back to Hank and asking about a friend of his. Seeley settled against her on the couch, arm wrapped around her shoulders as he let the tension flow out of him with each breath.

* * *

The couple stayed until late into the night, and Buffy's head had fallen against Seeley's shoulder hours ago.

Then the phone rang.

Buffy pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and took a look at the number.

"That's weird," she muttered, not recognizing the number, before answering,

"Elizabeth Booth." Seeley watched as his wife's face went very pale and her hand started to shake.

"Buffy?" he asked as her breathe stuttered.

"Yes, yes. Um- of course. Yes, I'll be right there." She hung up and sat in shock. Seeley carefully placed his hand on hers, linking their fingers together.

"Buffy, baby? Who was that?"

"It was the- um- it was the hospital."

"Buffy?" Hank pressed, leaning forward and looking at the girl he had known since she was six years old.

"It's my mom- they said- they said a neighbor found her. I have to go- fill out some papers or something, they said to go to the hospital but she's- so why would they take her to the hospital. I – I don't understand."

It was in the middle of this babble that Seeley finally pieced together what happened.

"Oh, baby," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "Come on, I'll drive. Pops?"

"I'm coming," the older man responded. "I can help- got a little experience with the paperwork they're talking about."

* * *

Buffy's mother had died sometime in the night, they said, an undetected brain aneurism after her brain surgery earlier that year. She wouldn't have felt a thing, they insisted, it would've been instantaneous, the nurses told her. Hank took the paperwork out of Buffy's shaking hands and, aside from the occasional question he was forced to ask Buffy for, he filled it out largely for her himself.

Seeley immediately grabbed his own phone and dialed for Buffy's father and then Willow and Xander.

Within twenty minutes Buffy's best friends were there, and within twenty four hours her father would be returning from England.

Seeley held her as she seemed to silently absorb everything, completely in shock. He held her and didn't let go until Joyce was buried, as he stepped away to let Buffy have a moment alone by the grave.

He had never felt so entirely useless and so very conscious of his failures as Buffy's husband. Yes, it was always hard to leave her when his leave was up, but he was sure it was the right thing to do. Now he wasn't. He had gotten some extra time due to Joyce's passing, but he was all too aware of what felt like a ticking clock, counting down till he left Buffy, left her in her grief to go across oceans and plains to fight for his country. Normally it was bittersweet. Helping with something so much bigger than himself, doing some good in the world, fighting for what he believed to be right, against not seeing Buffy, not being with her, not holding her every night.

This time was more than bitter- it was sour, coating the entire inside of his mouth for the months he was with her and the months he was gone and even when he was back again it didn't completely leave.

He kept leaving her.

_Her_. Buffy.  _Buffy_.

"You're not leaving me," she whispers into his shoulder one night as he thinks about it. This whole psychic thing she does he both loves and hates- loves that she knows him so well, hates that she has to know him so well.

"I'm not?"

"No. You're not leaving. You're coming back. Every time. Over and over. You come back to me."

He just pulls her closer, never mind the July heat.


	15. The Second Day of Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To recap the episode: Two days before Christmas, Booth brings in the body of a man found in a fallout shelter. While Brennan is eager to examine the body, her colleagues want to go to the company's Christmas party. When Zack cuts into the bones of the man, he accidentally releases a deadly fungus that causes the team, including Booth and Dr. Goodman, to be quarantined over Christmas.

It was 6 pm, December 23rd, and Seeley was ready to be  _gone_. However, he just had to give Bones a new case that, he had is fingers crossed, would be open  & shut, or if not, it was old enough that Bones would let him go home fairly quickly.

He dashed into the lab, carrying the suitcase he had been given, and practically ran up the steps to the platform before stopping short at the sight of Angela- dressed head-to-toe in green and red.

"Merry Christmas, Seeley," she told him with a grin. Ever since she and Buffy had bonded with Bones Angela had had this strange sort of amusement whenever he was around.

He preferred not to think what his wife might've told them.

"Oh, wow. What are you?" he asked the artist, "An elf?"

"Yes," she replied, "What's wrong with a little Christmas spirit?"

"Absolutely nothing," Seeley told her with a grin, "Bones!" he shouted for his partner, putting the suitcase on the table and opening it up. Bones immediately started examining the file.

"What's the context?" she asked, looking at the photograph.

"A federal property on Dupont Circle where Congress puts up visiting agricultural specialists, or- or something like that, they're digging to put in a solarium, and they find a fallout shelter with… a skeleton inside."

He gave Bones a smile, knowing she'd enjoy an skeleton.

"How long was it in there?" Angela asked seriously.

"Shelter was built in the 50's," Seeley told her, "Part of that whole A-Bomb panic."

"It's not a suicide," Bones muttered.

"Why not? Hole in the head, you see the gun, it's a suicide," he insisted, pointing at the picture, knowing his partner was going to continue to argue with him.

"He shoots himself in the head and somehow his arm ends up across his chest?" Bones shook her head, "Bring the skeleton in, I'll prove it wasn't a suicide."

Seeley gave a grin- he knew she'd say that. "Merry Christmas, Bones," he grinned at her, before turning around and giving a sharp whistle. "Come on, boys, bring it in."

With that signal, two FBI men carried in a stretcher with the skeleton and brought it up onto the platform.

"Oh, no," Angela protested, "We are going to the company Christmas party."

"Well, you go ahead. I'll do a cursory examination and I'll meet you in a few minutes," Bones unsuccessfully placated the woman, eyes already fixated on the latest case.

Seeley helped lower the skeleton onto the table, "All right. There you go. Wow," he added taking a look at the bones. His work done, he turned to leave.

"Booth," his partner called after him, "will you escort Angela to the Christmas party and make sure she doesn't photocopy her butt?" He decided to bypass that last bit and not ask.

"Oh, no, no. I should've been clearer earlier- there's no problem with Christmas spirit unless it stops me from getting home. I can't do that. You see, I got some really last-minute important Christmas shopping that I gotta do."

Angela took his arm and told him, "It's not last-minute until tomorrow. Did you forget Buffy's dad or something?"

"I did not- but Buffy forgot his girlfriend, so she asked me to pick up something for her."

"Oooh," Angela's eyes lit up, "Buffy's dad has a girlfriend?"

"Angela," Booth groaned as she lead him away, trying to pump him for more information.

* * *

After about fifteen minutes at the Jeffersonian's idea of a Christmas party, Booth escaped Angela and decided to check on Bones before leaving. He found her with the skeleton, holding some papers in her hands.

"What do you got there?" he asked her.

"Two open tickets to Paris. One way. Pan Transit Airlines. They're blank."

"Pan Transit went out of business in the 60's," Booth recalled.

She looked up from her remains at that point, eyes finally settling on him, "I thought you were at the party?"

"That wasn't a party," he informed her, "That was a Star Wars convention." Xander would've enjoyed it, he thought. As he was speaking, she picked up a bullet with some tweezers and showed it to him.

"This was still in the skull."

Seeley took a closer look, identifying it almost immediately, ".22 caliber. Matches the gun he was holding. Did you open the suitcase?" he asked next, looking over at the item in question.

"Nope."

"Why not?" he raised his eyebrows.

"It could hold information that would compromise my objectivity," she informed him seriously.

"Oh, yeah," he sarcastically replied, "Like a name and address?"

"I prefer," she reminded him, "To make unbiased initial observations." Her eyes suddenly darted over to the catwalk where Hodgins and Zack were rushing across, a rather full beaker in Hodgins's hands.

"Is that pure alcohol?" her voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Yes, Dr. Brennen," Zack immediately caved. Hodgins shot him a dirty look.

"You really think Goodman is going to let you spike the eggnog after the Fourth of July fiasco?" Booth decided not to ask about that, either.

Hodgins turned to Zack, "We may have to rethink."

"Zack, I need you to clean these bones," Bones ordered. Hodgins turned to Zack with a goofy grin and a "burnt," before the anthropologist started on him, too, "And I need  _you_  to search the clothing for insect evidence."

"Geez, Bones," Seeley said, turning back to his partner, "Merry Christmas." He was about to ask about her need to Scrooge the lab, when Angela's voice stopped all movement in the lab.

"Okay, you people listen to me," she ordered, one elf-shoe clad toe tapping, causing a jingling sound to emphasize her displeasure, "There is a party going on upstairs, okay? A  _Christmas_  party. We're going up there. We're gonna talk to some people, we're gonna sing some carols, we're gonna drink some eggnog," she then pointed at Booth, " _You_  are going to kiss me under the mistletoe. On the lips."

He immediately help up both hands and retorted, "Happily married."

Angela ignored him in favor of turning to the boys up on the catwalk, "I might kiss you guys under the mistletoe, too." She turned to look at Bones, "Maybe even you. In a festive, non-lesbian manner. But we are going to that party."

With that she stalked off the platform, Bones following her. Fearing Angela's wrath, everyone reported to the party; somehow, though, they all ended up back downstairs in the lab, this time with Goodman trying to mediate between them all. Seeley stood on the platform with Angela, Bones, and Goodman while Zack and Hodgins went off to do something science-y with the bones. Angela was pouting while sipping some eggnog and Goodman and Bones had gotten into some discussion on Neanderthals. Seeley gave a sigh and reached for his phone, pressing the speed dial.

"Let me guess," his wife's voice greeted him, "You're running a bit late?"

"Angela is trying to kiss me under the mistletoe."

Buffy hummed, "Good for her."

"Buffy!" he protested, betrayed.

His wife just laughed at his pain, "Relax, Seeley. Just remember to stop by the mall, pick up something for Jenny, never mention that I totally forgot my dad's girlfriend to anyone, come home, and we'll all still be here."

"Everyone's still there?" he asked, not really all that surprised. He'd accused Buffy and her friends of being co-dependent many times, and he was not entirely wrong. Goodman caught his eye and gave a nod to the doors. Seeley thanked the man with his eyes as he headed in that direction, "I'm leaving now," he told his wife.

"Well, Xander and Anya took the kids home about an hour ago, and Willow and Tara left about a half hour after that, so it's just us, dad, and Jenny, but you know what I mean."

"Alright- you enjoying catching up with your dad?" he asked, unnecessarily. He could practically  _hear_  his wife's smile through the phone, and he had seen how happy she was when they'd picked up Rupert and Jenny at the airport.

"Yes," she giggled, "And Parker's really happy to have him and Jenny here. He's exhausted himself so much. He's been mellow since dinner."

"Ah, that's a sure sign that there'll be an energy spike in time to protest bedtime."

His wife giggled, "That's what I'm thinking. Oh, and by the way-" but whatever Buffy was going to say next, Seeley didn't hear as an alarm began to sound throughout the lab.

"Seeley?" Buffy's voice came over the line, panicked.

"What the hell is that?" he shouted at the scientists on the platform.

"Biological contamination," Goodman told him, looking towards where Zack and Hodgins had been working.

Seeley heard the doors beginning to close behind him, and raced over, but was too late, they shut just as he reached them.

"The doors seal automatically," Angela informed him dryly. "Don't worry about it," she added with a wave of her hand.

"What do you mean don't worry about it?"

"Seeley!" he heard his wife's voice shout over the phone. He cursed and put it back against his ear.

"I'm fine," he assured her quickly. "I'm fine, the lab's just under lockdown. I'm sure they'll sort it out in a minute."

"There's no use panicking till we know what it was," Bones added as she came down off the platform with Goodman and Angela.

"What what was?" Seeley asked, feeling panicked.

"Uh, we might know," Hodgins said from the side. Everyone turned to look at him and Zack, who were standing there in towels, sopping wet.

"I cut into the fallout shelter bones and the biohazard alarm went off," Zack stated.

"Were you conforming to autopsy protocol?" Goodman asked the two men.

"One of us was," Zack replied heavily, shooting a look at Hodgins.

"The other was…drinking an eggnog," the entomologist admitted with a raised hand.

"And you didn't have your mask on," Goodman summarized, "oh…" the man groaned.

"Babe," Seeley told his wife, "I'm going to have to call you back."

"Ok," and Seeley felt like a heel when he heard the worry his wife was masking in her voice, "Just be safe."

"I will," he promised her. "Love you."

"Always," she replied before hanging up.

* * *

They all gathered in Brennen's office, Zack and Hodgins sitting on opposite ends of her couch, while Bones took her desk. Angela leaned up against the windows while Goodman stood beside Bones. Seeley paced on the other end of the room by the bookcases.

Hal, or, as Seeley liked to think of him, the other Goodman, was speaking to them over the video conference call. "The pathogen is coccidioidomycosis."

"Valley fever?" Goodman asked, standing straighter.

"It was picked up in the scanner in the discharge vent at Mr. Addy's station."

"What's valley fever?" Seeley interrupted, wishing, not for the first time, that squints came with a translator.

"It's a fungus that can lead to pneumonia, meningitis, spontaneous abortion," Seeley swallowed at that as Zack continued with a pointed glare at Hodgins, "death."

"The alarm sounded shortly after Mr. Addy cut into a human bone. That must have been the source," Goodman told Hal.

"Was he following autopsy procedure?" Everyone in the room looked away.

"Of course," Bones defended her intern, "However…" she trailed off.

"I was drinking an eggnog," Hodgins confessed.

"And now he's there with you breathing the same air," Seeley wasn't sure why that was a concern, but Hodgins jumped in.

"Hey, I got into the decontamination shower  _with_  Zack. Haven't I been through enough hell?"

"Is he contagious?" Seeley asked, worried he might have caught something that he might spread to his family. Including his possibly-pregnant wife, considering they'd been trying for the past few months, and his very young son, nieces, and nephew.

"Dr. Hodgins may have inhaled the spores, yes," Hal said unhelpfully.

"Okay, it must suck to be Hodgins right now," Seeley said with a nod towards the man in question, "But the rest of us, we didn't inhale,"  _and boy, taken out of context that would've been weird,_  he had time to think, "So it's okay if I go, right?" he asked, hands pressed together in an imitation of prayer.

"Dr. Hodgins might have exhaled the spores all over us," Goodman broke the news.

"We have no choice but to impose quarantine," Hal told them, "Valley fever can be fatal, and we can't risk a pandemic. Just calm down and let us handle things from this side."

"Anyone besides me worried that a guy dressed as Santa is in charge?" Seeley lashed out.

Hal was less than pleased with the Agent's attitude and coldly replied, "Merry Christmas," before hanging up.

It was quiet for a few moments before Seeley pointed at the two on the couch, "Ok, you know what? If this is fatal, I'm shooting  _both_  of you."

Angela intervened before it could get bloody, "Maybe you guys should get dressed," she suggested to the boys, who obediently got up and left the room.

Seeley sighed and reached for his phone again. "I'm gonna," he gestured to it before leaving the room, already dialing.

"Seeley?" Buffy answered on the first ring.

"Hey, so Zack and Hodgins accidentally unleashed Valley Fever through the lab and then breathed all over the rest of us, so this is gonna be awhile."

"Valley Fever?" Buffy asked.

"Now, don't worry-"

"Seeley, you saying that  _makes_  me worried."

"Listen, I'm in a lab with a bunch of scientists and we've got even more outside working on it, they'll fix it up and then I'll come home. Ok?"

His wife didn't immediately respond and Seeley knew what she was up to.

"Buffy do  _not_  look up Valley Fever online!"

"Damn it, Seeley, do  _not_  sugarcoat this for me!"

He sighed, "Alright, I'm sorry. Ok? I don't really know what's going on, but I'll keep you updated."

"You don't feel sick, right?"

"No, I feel fine."

"Ok. Stay away from Zack and Hodgins, just to be safe."

"I think it's a bit late for that, but I don't exactly have plans for hanging out."

"I love you."

"Always," he told her, hanging up.

This was  _not_  how he wanted Christmas to go.

* * *

About a half an hour later, he was standing with his pants down (literally) in a line with everyone else while men in contamination suits stuck needles in their asses.

"This is a cocktail of four antifungal drugs," Hal told them, "including amphotericin B. Orally, you'll be taking ketoconazole, fluconazole, and itraconazole."

Seeley had no idea what that meant, but hoped it meant he could go home, "That's great. Then we can leave?" he asked.

"We won't know for a couple of days if the fungus took hold in your system," Hal told the Agent.

"Whoa whoa whoa," Seeley said, feeling his shoulders tighten in stress. "You're saying that we're stuck here over Christmas? Look, you know, I have," he grunted slightly as someone stuck a needle into him, "places to go, you know? I have obligations."

"We all have obligations," Goodman said frostily.

"I'm supposed to go to Quebec," Hodgins complained loudly.

"Hey, whose fault is this?" Angela shot at the man.

"Who forced me to go to the party where I drank too much and had to hide from Crystal?" Hodgins fired back.

"Who never should have cut into a bone with a drunken fool in the room?" Angela continued.

Zack, taking offense, added "Who brought us human remains just to ditch a little paperwork?"

"Oh, you're saying this is my fault?" Seeley directed at the younger man.

"You knew Dr. Brennan could not resist," Goodman told the Agent.

"I'd have been able to resist if I was in Niger, where I wanted to be," Bones came to his defense, looking at Goodman.

"You're blaming me," the man sighed angrily.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Hal interrupted their blame game, just as Seeley was starting to feel a little lightheaded. "We'll have sleeping bags delivered. Please have your loved ones call me and we'll set up some kind of safe, quarantined visit on Christmas Eve. Oh, and be prepared for side effects."

Seeley wandered over to the other end of the room, observing the lab. He'd never paid much attention to it before, he realized.

"Nausea, fever, insomnia," Bones listed in the background. Bones. Bones. It was a funny nickname. Who came up with it? Oh, he did.

"In very rare cases, euphoria, dream state, mild hallucinations," Hal added. And Seeley suddenly remembered a movie he'd watched with Xander where there was a computer named Hal that took over the spaceship. Funny, since Hal had been in the computer.

"I'll take that, please," Angela said cheerfully.

He really did not pay enough attention to this lab! It was filled with…things.

"Early symptoms mimic a common cold."

"What if it manifests?" Goodman asked. Goodman. Goodman. Good man. Huh. Funny.

"First treatment protocol involves extremely painful injections into the base of the brain," Zack told them all. Huh. How did someone so squinty become so... squinty?

"You know what?" Booth felt the need to tell them all. After all, the lab needed some appreciation. He was always rushing out of there to get home. But the lab, the lab was pretty cool. "I never realized how pretty all this shiny stuff is." Of course, the lab was not as cool as Buffy. But Buffy wasn't really cool- she was hot. Very hot. He had a very hot wife.

"That is so not fair," he heard Hodgins say. And Hodgins was right. Seeley was very very lucky. No one had as hot a wife as he did.

"I think I'll call Elizabeth," Angela giggled.

* * *

"He's pretty stoned," Angela told Buffy, who had initially panicked when she answered the phone to someone other than Seeley.

"Seeley stoned? And I'm missing it? Please tell me you're video taping."

Angela laughed, "Oh, we were, but Brennen wouldn't let us."

Buffy sighed, "She is too good a friend to him, that's just not right. Stoned Seeley needs to be saved for posterity."

"You wanna try talking to him?" Angela suggested.

"Yes, please."

"Ok. Gimme a sec- hey, Booth. I've got Mrs. Booth on the phone for you!"

"Buffy?" came her husband's voice after a few minutes.

"Hey, babe, how ya feeling?"

"I love you."

She giggled, "I love you too."

"No, I mean I really love you."

"I really love you too, Seeley."

"I reeeeeaaallly love you."

Buffy couldn't stop laughing. "Ok, I know. And I really love you too. Always."

"Always. Always always always," her husband repeated back to her.

"You feel ok, Seeley?"

"I feel great. I love how you say my name. Other people, I don't like it, but Buffy makes it sound nice."

"I'll keep that in mind, Seeley."

"Good. I love you."

She laughed, "I love you too."

"I hope we have a baby."

"Yeah?" she asked, deciding to take advantage of his state for some fun, "You want a boy or a girl?"

"Girl." He answered definitively, "Girl. Just like you. Another Buffy. The world needs more Buffys."

It really was not fair that, even stoned out of his mind, he could make her fall in love with him all over again.

"But I like boys too. Boys are nice. Babies with Buffy are great. We should have more. Because I love you. And I love Parker. I love our family. All of them. And even Xander, sometimes."

Buffy was laughing again, "I'll tell him you said that."

"Ok. But the evil computer won't let me come home."

"Evil computer?"

"Yeah, Xander's evil computer."

"Ok," she decided to roll with it, "But you can come home in a few days. And I'll make sure to take good care of you."

He gave a hum, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Forever?" he asked.

"Forever."

"Ok. I love you."

She rolled her eyes, "I love you too, Seeley."

"Always."

"Always," she told him, "Now give the phone back to Angela."

"Ok, I love you."

She just laughed, knowing if she responded he'd start all over again.

"I think that might've been the cutest thing I've ever seen," she heard Angela say over the line. Buffy was still laughing, "It's seriously adorable, you two."

"Oh, man, that kind of reminded me of that time we got drunk."

"Ooooh, do tell."

"Well, Seeley wasn't nearly as bad as me, I was plastered, but, from what I hear, I was just as bad then as he is now."

Angela laughed, "It's adorable. Ok, so you have the number to make the call to Hal for Christmas Eve?"

"Yes, I do, thanks Ange."

"No problem," the artist replied, "I'll take overhearing that phone conversation as payment."

"Merry Christmas, Angela," Buffy said.

"Merry Christmas," she responded before hanging up.

* * *

"What are those little tiny lights dancing on the ceiling?" Seeley asked Goodman from his place on the floor. Goodman had taken Bones's couch with his own sleeping bag, but Seeley wasn't really in a state to mind.

"For the third time," the man said patiently, but also with exhaustion in his voice, "those are minute firings of neurons on your optic nerve due to your reaction to the antifungal cocktail."

"Wow," Seeley sighed, "They're beautiful."

Goodman chuckled. "You are  _stoned_ , Agent Booth."

Booth couldn't help but laugh at that before sobering, he was starting to feel the drugs wear off, he thought, "Oh, good. Let's hope it lasts long enough to keep this from being the  _worst_  Christmas of my life."

"What are you complaining about?" Goodman asked, "I don't like to boast, but I am the  _spirit_  of Christmas at my house. I have a wife, and twin five-year-old daughters." He pulled a photo out of his wallet as he spoke and passed it to Booth.

Booth examined the picture of the two girls posed between Goodman and who he assumed was the man's wife as the man in question continued, "We have family traditions, most important of which is being together for Christmas."

"Wow. They're beautiful," he answered honestly, before passing the photo back to the archeologist.

"You know, Buff and I have a kid too," he told the man, the buzz definitely fading now, and pulled out his own picture, one of Buffy and Parker together. It wasn't posed or planned, but it was his favorite. The two were cuddled up on the couch, Buffy's arms wrapped around Parker who was grinning happily at Seeley, who was behind the camera. Willow had made dozens of copies for Seeley one year for Hanukah, and Booth always kept one on him.

"His name's Parker. He's four years old," he informed Goodman, who was examining the photo.

"He's a fine looking boy," Goodman told him, handing the photo back.

"Yeah," Seeley sighs, "Gets that from his mother," he jokes.

"I see quite a bit of you in him," Goodman corrected the Agent, "Though his coloring is very similar to your wife's."

"He's a bit of me and a bit of her," Seeley said, smiling at the photo, "Just about perfect. I always try to get him an excellent present every year, something really cool. And the whole gang comes over the house- Xander and Willow, Buffy's best friends since grade school, their families, Buff's dad comes back to the states from England- this year he brought his girlfriend. Every year we all get together and it's loud and crowded. But, uh, this year…" Seeley trailed off.

"Yes. This year."

"What are those little lights on the ceiling again?" Seeley asked, staring up at them.

Goodman just smirked and shook his head.

* * *

It was around 8 am- after a lengthy night, a discussion of religion with Bones ( _not_ something he'd have done sober), and some blanks spaces of memory- that Booth felt well enough to consider himself sober.

Feeling better, he used the industrial design of the lab to help him get a bit of a work out- chin ups before breakfast.

"In some cases of valley fever," Zack said to Hodgins as the two came down the steps, "suppurating skin lesions appear."

"Could someone in a position of responsibility please order Zack to shut up?" Hodgins asked as he walked over to Goodman, Zack trailing behind.

Seeley finished his last chin-up and followed them over to the breakfast that had been brought for them.

"Coffee. Coffee." Angela droned as she approached.

"Good morning, Miss Montenegro," Goodman said to the zombie that had replaced Angela

"Where'd this come from?" the artist asked as she reached for the coffee.

"Hazmat team brought it over early this morning. Very appetizing," Goodman told her with a sip of his own caffeine fix. "Are you back with us?" He asked Booth.

"Yeah, think so," Seeley said as he pulled his button-down on over his undershirt.

"Since we're gonna be stuck together for Christmas, we should make the most of it," Angela announced to them all; evidently the smell of coffee was enough to get her going.

"How?" Booth asked.

"We'll decorate this place and exchange handmade gifts," the artist replied with a smile.

"An excellent idea, Miss Montenegro."

"I can get behind that," Zack said, sipping orange juice.

"I'm in," Hodgins added with a shrug.

"As am I," Goodman gestured to Angela in a "cheers" motion with his coffee cup.

"How 'bout Bones?" Seeley asked, looking at the woman's best friend.

The three men all shake their heads so Seeley continues, "Aw, come on. What's the deal with Bones and Christmas?"

Angela sighed and then began, "Last night I spun a little story about two young lovers running off to Paris. But the man never shows up, and the woman is left wondering what happened to him. And I say, "Imagine what that must have been like." And Brennan says, "I don't have to.""

Looking around the group, wishing for some of their extra IQ points, Seeley confessed, "Yeah I- I still don't get it."

"Oh my God," Goodman sighed.

"What?" Booth asked, wondering what he's missing.

"Brennan's parents disappeared just before Christmas when she was fifteen," Angela told him.

"And she never knew what happened to them," Goodman finished for her.

"Oh, God," Booth said in sudden realization, "That explains a lot."

Hodgins added his own, "Mmm. Yeah."

"Yeah," Goodman repeated.

"Alright, we need a way to choose our Secret Santas," Angela distracted them from the heavy subject.

"I could build a random generator," Zack offered.

"Ah, wouldn't it be better to match complimentary people in a premeditated manner?" Goodman pondered.

Hodgins shook his head and said, "I've got five numbers in my head and five letters. You tell me the number and I'll tell you the matching letter."

Seeley exchanged a loaded glance with Angela and handed her an empty container, grabbing his pad out of his pocket as well.

"Are the letters sequential or the numbers sequential?" Goodman asked Hodgins.

"Sequential, we'll go in order from oldest to youngest," Hodgins replied.

Seeley began to tear up the papers with everyone's names on them, tossing them into the bucket Angela held for him.

"Six," Zack said to Hodgins.

"There's no six," he told the younger man.

"A through E and one through five," Goodman clarified.

Booth cleared his throat and grabbed the metal bucket, shaking it for emphasis at the squints.

"Pick a name," he instructed them, "and if you get your own, put it back in." Suddenly, he felt very glad he didn't have their extra IQ points.

"Oh, that could work," Goodman said as Zack reached into the bucket.

"Yeah, that's good," Hodgins complimented.

Angela and Booth exchanged another look and the artist nodded to him with a "Good idea."

* * *

"We have to be extremely creative," Angela instructed the group- minus Brennen and Booth- as they attempted to make decorations.

"Maybe string a bunch of test tubes together, fill 'em with luminescent liquids," Hodgins suggested.

"Nice," Angela encouraged, "Very festive."

Zack chose to look at it a different way, "They'll probably give us cancer."

"That would be fitting this Christmas," Goodman muttered.

"Tidings of joy, gentlemen," Angela encouraged. "Tidings of joy."

"Decorations do not a Christmas make," Goodman told her, "Family and friends make Christmas."

"We're friends," Hodgins said. Goodman sighed, and was quiet, "We're… not friends."

"We are colleagues, friends, coworkers, yes," Goodman explains, "but for a father like myself, like Agent Booth," he didn't notice how everyone froze and stared at him as he continued, "a few glowing test tubes don't make up for missing Christmas morning with the children."

Angela immediately started "Excuse me?"

"Be kind, rewind," Zack added.

"Booth has a kid?" Hodgins spoke what was on all their minds.

Goodman looked at the group around them, registering their surprise. "Ah," he said, "Well… Not common knowledge, I gather."

* * *

It was while Goodman was examining the suitcase with Booth that the Agent's phone rang.

Checking the Caller ID, he answered, "Hey, Buff."

"Hey, I was just calling to tell you everyone is ready and we will be leaving in about an hour for our scheduled visit after I feed the troops."

" _You_  feed?" he asked with a smile.

"Alright, dad's feeding, but I'm providing moral support," she told him.

"A very important part of the process," he told her, grinning. "And how about Xander drive you all- I don't want you on the roads with all the snow."

"When are you going to get over my driving past? I'm a perfectly safe driver now. Do not hold my steep learning curve against me," she ordered.

"You don't have a steep learning curve, you have a difficulty with machines. Any and all of them. It, unfortunately, includes cars."

He could pretty much hear her pout before she responded, "Fine, I'll let Xander drive, but don't think we're finished this."

"I'd never assume we finished anything," he told her. "We're still having arguments over pulling your pigtails."

"Damn right we are. I still say that teacher was very misogynistic. "It's just something boys do sometimes," really!"

Seeley grinned, "But you set her straight, babe, and you straightened me out too. I never pulled your pigtails again."

She knew he was teasing her and simply replied, "Shut up."

"Yes, ma'am."

She chuckled a little at him, "Whatever, we'll see you later. I love you."

"I love you too. Always."

"Always," and she hung up.

* * *

The group gathered for dinner (take out food) and was laughing at a table in the bone storage room, two television screens with animated hearths, compete with stockings hanging over a roaring fire, behind them.

"So if Lionel was a coin collector," Hodgins theorized, "that might explain the levels of lead and nickel in his bone."

"When do they insert the needle into your brain?" Zack asked Bones, referring to her earlier sneeze.

"I sneezed because the air is dry. It's not valley fever," Brennen sternly announced to the table at large.

"Any other symptoms?" Goodman asked, "Headache?"

"Any foul smelling pustules on your shins?" Zack chimed in.

Booth noticed his partner getting annoyed and decided to cut in, "Look, she sneezed twice, that's it. Did you find anything else about the letters?" he asked Goodman to distract them all.

"Quite a lot, yes," the man said, "They are very,  _very_  passionate love letters."

"Careful Lionel had a girlfriend," Booth concluded.

"A girlfriend who was in trouble," Goodman added.

"'Pregnant,' in trouble?" Angela asked.

"Whoa, apparently Careful Lionel wasn't so careful," Hodgins said with some surprise.

"Unmarried pregnant girl in Oklahoma in the late fifties…" Booth trailed off, shaking his head.

"You suppose Lionel came up here to procure an abortion?" Goodman theorized to the Agent.

"You know what?" Angela interjected, "This isn't a very Christmas Eve type story."

"Of course it is," Bones said in her typical way, "The whole Christ myth is built upon the travails of an unwed mother."

Booth tensed slightly before requesting, "Okay, can we just stop bringing up the whole "Christ myth" thing? Alright, some people believe it's more than just a myth."

"Well, who besides you?" Bones asked with some annoyance.

"That would be me, Dr. Brennan. I'm a deacon at my church," Goodman informed her.

"I do," Angela chimed in, "Christmas and Easter, anyway," she grinned.

"Although I believe organized religion is just another political movement designed to control the masses," Hodgins contributed as Booth gestured towards him, "doesn't mean God doesn't love me," the entomologist grinned.

Feeling a bit outnumbered, Bones turned to look at Zack.

"Hey, I'm a rational empiricist all the way" the intern said defensively before adding, "Unless you talk to my mother. Then I'm Lutheran," the rest of the group grinned at that.

"How about we just agree to disagree, and not discuss religion?" Seeley offered to the table. Everyone nodded in agreement and they went back to the case.

"The letters display a combination of both block and cursive," Goodman informed them all.

"A combination of both printing and writing?" Angela, ever the artist, clarified.

Goodman nodded, "It would indicate that she may have left school some time in the second grade. Most white children in those days would obtain at least an eighth grade education."

"She was African American?" Brennen asked.

"Why I believe so, yes," Goodman answered with some surprise of his own.

Hodgins turned to Bones, "Is there any way Lionel was an African American?"

"No," she answered definitively, "no he was definitely Caucasian."

"A white man and a pregnant black girl in 1958 Oklahoma," Angela said in wonderment.

"That was bad?" Zack asked with some confusion.

"It was illegal," Goodman instructed the younger man.

"In Okalahoma?" Hodgins asked the administrator.

"Not just Oklahoma, here in D.C.," he told them all.

"Then why come here?" Angela wondered.

"They were running away," Seeley answered her, the pieces falling into place, "Lionel had two tickets to Paris, and where else in 1958 could a white man and a black woman get married and live together?"

At that moment, Hal interrupted with some very good news, "Visiting hours, folks. Who's first?" he asked from the doorway in his protective suit.

Goodman quickly wiped his mouth and stood, "As director of this institution, I claim that right."

"Okay, brief announcement. You guys might recognize my dad," Angela told them all, "but I don't really want to talk about it, so, thanks. Okay? That's all."

* * *

When it was Seeley's turn, he walked out to wait by the glass doors. He paced back and forth, waiting to see his family for the first time in over twenty four hours.

It had been way too long, and he couldn't even touch them now.

However, his complaints were forgotten as he saw his wife walk in carrying their son. She smiled brightly when she saw him, and Seeley felt something inside him settle at the sight of the two of them.

He put on his earbud and smiled as he heard his son's voice.

"Hi daddy!" he grinned through the glass at the boy wriggling in his wife's arms, causing her to roll her eyes and adjust her grip on the child.

"Hey, buddy. Quit squirming, or mommy'll drop you."

"No she won't," the boy replied, completely secure in his parent's status as superheroes. Seeley really hoped that never changed. He turned to see Buffy.

"Buffy," he sighed.

"Seeley," they grinned and their hands found each other to press against either side of the glass. Buffy leaned forward and pressed her forehead against the glass as he mirrored her, bringing their faces close together in a version of a kiss. "Everyone else is waiting outside to see you, they wanted to give us a moment first," she told him.

He was suddenly filled with a deep fondness for their adoptive family, those wonderful people who had stood by them, and by Buffy, through everything. Death, separation, and labor. Buffy had almost broken Willow's hand when she was having Parker, something which the redhead would still occasionally tease her about.

Buffy had broken Seeley's altogether.

"I love you," he told them both.

"Love you, too," his wife told him. "Always."

"Always," he sighed to her. She gave him a grin and set Parker down.

"You stay and talk to daddy," she told him, "I'm going to go get Grandpa and the others." Their son nodded and grinned up at his father, who crouched down to the floor to be closer to eye level with his boy. Seeley and Buffy pressed hands once again through the glass, before she stood and went to retrieve the rest of the family.

"When are you coming home?" Parker asked him, eyes wide and head tilted to the side.

 _He looks just like his mother_ , Seeley thought before telling his boy, "A few more days, buddy. I promise. They've just got to make sure Daddy won't get anyone sick."

"You'd never get anyone sick!" Parker protested, horrified.

Seeley chuckled, "Not on purpose, but you remember how you gave mommy your cold last week?" Parker nodded and his father continued, "It's like that."

At that moment, Rupert and Willow walked in and grinned widely at Booth.

"Hey, Seeley!" Willow cheered as she bounced up to the glass, "Don't worry, Parker's been looking after  _all_  of us," she told him and Parker nodded proudly at his aunt's words.

"Seeley," Rupert greeted, and behind him Xander and Anya brought their kids in with some help from Buffy and Tara.

There were cheers from his nieces and nephew, and they and Parker tried to simultaneously tell him what Seeley thought were about three different stories as the adults tried to translate (largely unsuccessfully).

They went through what seemed to be the same conversations they had every year- Rupert brought up the first time Buffy tried to cook a holiday dinner on her own, Tara softly reminded everyone of Xander's Christmas tree fiasco of '05. They all laughed and teased and then Parker insisted his father tell him the story of how he tried to get home to Buffy for their first Christmas after they were married. It involved several airplane change overs, a lot of running, and a very entertaining taxi driver, and was practically part of tradition to tell the tale with much exaggerating and, as always, Parker cheered when Seeley told the part about sneaking up behind Buffy to surprise her.

Predictably, Buffy told everyone the part Seeley had left out- that she was so surprised she knocked him flat on his back and the air out of his lungs before she realized it was him.

Seeley put up with everyone laughing at him and told Parker about how it was worth it because Buffy knelt down next to him and kissed it better. Parker, Xander, Matt, and Giles all wrinkled their noses at that, while the girls (with the exception of Buffy, who was still laughing too hard) all cooed.

After about an hour, they had to leave, and one by one they pressed their hands to the glass as Seeley did the same and left. Buffy and Parker were the last in the room, and Buffy repeated her earlier action and leaned her forehead against the glass where his own rested.

"Merry Christmas, Seeley Booth," she whispered to him.

"Merry Christmas, Elizabeth Booth," he whispered back. They exchanged a pained smile before Seeley knelt down to press his hand against the glass where Parker stood.

"I'll see you soon, buddy," he told his son, who pressed his hand up against his dad's. It never failed to amaze Seeley how big his hands were compared to his son's.

"Merry Christmas, daddy," Parker told him.

Seeley grinned, trying not to cry at saying goodbye, "Merry Christmas, buddy."

With that, Buffy scooped up their son and departed with one last smile and a whisper of "Always."

"Always," he whispered back, watching them disappear through the doors. He sighed and then went off into the lab.

He had a Secret Santa to prepare for.

* * *

Christmas Day dawned and Booth was really  _really_  hoping they'd be released today. He still had all the rest of the holiday vacation to enjoy time with his son, but it wasn't quite the same as being with him on the day of.

He took a moment on waking to miss the sounds he'd normally be hearing- Buffy's quiet breathing next to him, the soft footsteps from Parker trying to sneak into the room so he could jump on the bed and surprise them awake (there was a slight creak in the door that woke Seeley up when his son did this, but he'd pretend to sleep so Parker could think he'd woken them both up), the slight, quiet, giggles his son couldn't quite suppress (how Buffy never actually woke until the boy was on the bed and jumping on them, Seeley never could figure out, but his wife was a deep  _deep_  sleeper).

Moment passed, he got himself up and followed Angela's Christmas-Day preparation orders before calling his family.

"Merry Christmas," Buffy's voice greeted him. She sounded still half-asleep and groggy.

"He wake you up the usual way?" Seeley asked in envy.

"Of course. Wouldn't be Christmas without me jumping out of my skin first thing in the morning."

Seeley chuckled, "It really wouldn't."

"Shut up," she told him "and here's your son."

"Daddy!" his son shouted so loudly Booth pulled the speaker away from his ear slightly, but he grinned as Parker continued, "I woke up mommy, and she told me to go wake up Grandpa and Jenny so I woke them up and Grandpa said that it wasn't very nice but told me mommy used to jump like that until she was my age, then she decided sleeping was more fun."

"Well, what do you think is more fun?" Seeley asked.

His son thought very seriously on the subject and evidently decided he couldn't decide, because he changed the subject. "Pops is coming after lunch, mommy said, will you be with Pops?"

"Maybe, buddy, I have to wait and see what the doctor says, gotta be careful."

"Don't want anybody sick," Parker said seriously.

"Exactly, good boy."

"Pops is going to bring more presents, mommy said, she won't let me open my presents till Pops gets here, said everybody has to wait."

"You want me to tell you a secret?" Seeley conspired with his boy, "If you call Pops and tell him that, he'll come over early just so you can open the presents sooner. And he'll tease mommy for making you wait."

"Really?" Parker asked.

"Really."

Seeley heard his son start asking his mother to call Pops (insisting really), and he chuckled as his wife's voice came back on the phone.

"Why is our son insisting we call your grandfather now?"

"I have no idea," he told her, trying to sound innocent (and no doubt failing), "But I will talk to you guys later and hopefully the docs will let us out today. I love you."

She sighed, "I love you too. Now get off the line so I can call Pops and hopefully calm this wild child."

He chuckled and obligingly hung up.

"Booth?" Angela called, "I want you to go get Brennen- tell her it's Christmas!"

* * *

Seeley found himself wondering why he was surrounded with so many bossy women as he made his way to his partner's office.

"Bones?" he called her, stepping in to find her at her desk, working. "You find something?" he asked, seeing the look on her face.

"Two things that fit together," she muttered, not really paying attention to him- her mind focused on the puzzle before her.

"Angela sent me," he explains, "She says it's Christmas."

"Okay," his partner replied, not really registering his words.

"You think there's still more to learn about Lionel Little and Ivy Gillespie?" he asked her, watching as she scanned something on her computer.

"There's always more to learn," she told him with a small grin, finally turning to see him.

He turned to go rejoin the rest of the group, but he paused when she spoke.

"Hey," he looked back at her, sitting at her desk, surrounded by all her knowledge, "I'm sorry you didn't get Christmas morning with your little boy."

There were hundreds of things he could've said, a million different combinations, no doubt. But this was Bones, making an effort to make some sort of connection with another human being. So, really, there was only one thing to say. And he said it with a smile on his face.

"Thanks."

* * *

Angela had everyone gathered in her office, standing before the Angela-tron, which was currently off with a handful of presents sitting in a semi-circle around the edge.

"Okay," she instructed, "Good. Everybody, stand over here. Close your eyes."

They obliged and when she instructed them to open, they all grinned as one at seeing the holographic Christmas tree decorate itself before their eyes- ornaments, tinsel, lights, and a star at the very top.

The entire group gasped and awww'd at the display, exchanging handshakes, hugs, and Merry Christmases.

Brennen took the opportunity to slip out of the room.

* * *

Seeley watched as each person opened their Secret Santa gift. He was pleased Goodman liked the eagle he had made out of paper for the man.

Zack's gift, though, took the cake.

"Self-propelled, nonautonomic unit," Zack explained to him.

"It's a robot," Hodgins obligingly translated at Seeley's lost look.

"I _thought_ ," the intern explained, "if we get out of here in time today, you could give it to your son."

Booth reached over to shake the young man's hand, "Merry Christmas," he told Zack as he couldn't help but enthusiastically pump the squintern's hand up and down.

* * *

He had flipped a coin worth over a hundred thousand dollars.

A hundred thousand.

Dollars.

He was still absorbing that as Goodman came and told them it was time for their test results. Everyone gathered on the steps of the platform, waiting anxiously. Hal and another scientist stood in those damn suits with a computer between them running the blood samples they'd taken.

Finally the computer gave a slight ding and a green light flashed at the top.

"Green!" Seeley couldn't help shouting before realizing he might've jumped the gun. "Green. Is that green as in: "go?" Or green as: "stick a needle in your brain?""

Hal unzipped his hazmat suit and looked at them all, "Merry Christmas."

The doors unlocked and the men of the team in unison gave a "yes!" and everyone jumped off the stairs to race to the doors.

Everyone, Seeley realized, except Bones.

"We are out of here!" Hodgins cheered and Booth turned to look again at his partner. "Merry Christmas everyone!" Bones stood on the steps and gave him a smile.

"Go!" she told him, "Go have Christmas," he looked at her, concerned, "Wish your boy and Elizabeth Merry Christmas for me."

At the reminder of his family Seeley gave a smile, "I'm at home if you decide you want company. It'll probably be more company then you'd  _ever_  want, but," he gave a shrug. "Merry Christmas, Bones." With that he walked out the lab's doors, passing by an elderly woman lead by a younger woman on his way out.

He spotted Xander standing by his car outside.

"There you are, G-man. So- no Valley Fever, I'm guessing?" the construction worker said with a grin.

"Got the all-clear, let's get home," Seeley said, flinging himself into the passenger seat.

"Amen. Though, I should warn you, Anya has every intention of getting every man in the room under the mistletoe at least once."

"And she's told this to you?" Seeley realized what he just said, "Of course she did. She's Anya."

"Exactly. She's already gotten your Pops," Xander told him as he put the car in drive, "Not that he resisted, mind." Seeley just laughed, glad to be going home for Christmas.

Maybe Buffy'd tackle him to the ground again this year.


	16. A Phase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we get to see that "phase" Seeley said Buffy went through high school. We also see a few more of our Buffy characters making an appearance. And I HAD to include the final scene, because I adore it and it made me cry on the show.

Cordelia Chase was the devil incarnate.

And nothing you could say would convince Elizabeth "Buffy" Kemp otherwise.

Cordelia was Buffy's #1 competition when it came time for Cheerleading Captain, Homecoming Queen, and Prom Queen.

She also flirted with Seeley.

All. The. Time.

Buffy did not mind admitting she was possessive of her boyfriend. It helped that he was just as possessive of her. But when Seeley saw other guys flirting with her he tended to glare at them and get very very quiet.

Buffy tended to go nuclear.

Which led back to Cordelia Chase being the devil incarnate.

It didn't help that Seeley was kinda-sort-of-friends with her. And Buffy refused to let Cordelia turn her into the your-friend-or-me girlfriend. She refused. She was determined to hold the moral high ground, so she said nothing to Seeley, nothing to anyone besides Willow, really, and settled for taking Cordelia Chase down a peg whenever the opportunity arose.

It was a stiff competition and it got catty. Cordelia sabotaged Buffy's yearbook photo Sophomore year (in that there wasn't one) and Seeley apologized for her and insisted it was a mishap.

Buffy said nothing, but she became Cheer Captain that year and held the title for the rest of High School.

Since Seeley was her boyfriend and Cordelia was his kinda-sort-of-friend, Buffy felt her hands were slightly tied when it came to what she was allowed to do to the girl. Competition for mutual interests were fine. Outright cattiness in conversation was not. And Buffy'd never really been the type to spread rumors or do smear campaigns.

But,  _god_ , was it tempting.

Having Seeley, though, that was something Buffy normally gloried in, and having him in front of Cordelia Chase?

Even better.

They were the power couple of High School- Cheer Captain and Football Star (Seeley earned the title "the Angel of the Field" in his Junior year and for the rest of his High School career people would call him "Angel" whenever he was in his football uniform or letterman's jacket), the beautiful blonde bombshell and the stunning tall, dark, and handsome boy every girl wanted.

That changed Buffy's Sophomore year.

They were still the power couple, but one day Cordelia, who had never paid much attention to anything but herself, picked on Willow, not realizing she was Buffy's best friend (and, through her, a close friend of Seeley's). Cordelia started joking about Willow's outfit being "the softer side of Sears."

Buffy was many things at that point in her life, not many of them perfect, but she had always been fiercely loyal to her friends, and inspired loyalty of the same strength back, and so she went _truly_  nuclear on Cordelia Chase that day.

When Cordelia finally walked way in a huff, grumbling about not understand why Buffy cared so much about "that loser compared to all the others," Buffy had a wake-up call.

And an existential crisis.

Willow and Xander both had to talk her down in the library, explaining that, yes, she had been a bit Cordelia-like, but that they never doubted she loved them or that it was just a phase she'd get out of.

Xander, of course, added some unfavorable remarks about Seeley, but Willow quieted most of those with one of her glares. Seeing his friend was still noticeably upset, Xander sighed and did what he knew he had to, but really wished he didn't.

He went and got "Angel."

Buffy's wake-up call turned into Seeley's wake-up call and both of them worked out their existential crisis with more than a little self-humbling and remorse.

Willow later described it like flipping a switch.

The next day found the high school's power couple still very much on the top of the totem pole, but using their popularity for the side of good.

Bullying levels dropped in a day, Xander swore (and attributed it all to Buffy, of course).

Suddenly the hallways were universally safe for freshmen because you could guarantee you had Angel watching your back.

Girl's bathrooms were suddenly much calmer and gossip-free with Buffy there to cool the rumors and stem the catty remarks.

The school changed in days, and it stayed that way. Even Cordelia Chase began to grow up a little.

"It's like they infected the whole school," Xander remarked. Then, seeing Willow's look, continued, "In a good, Justice-League kind of way. Not a Bubonic Plague kind of way."

Willow was personally grateful for the security, because it was within that month that she met Tara.

Coming out was scary enough, she could only imagine how frightening it would've been in their school's previous environment.

While initially awkward, her friends were supportive, and as they were all the family Willow needed, that was all that mattered to her.

They became all the family Tara had ever wanted as time passed.

When Prom Queen campaigning season rolled around Seeley's Senior Year and Buffy's Junior, people were surprised when Buffy did nothing to further her own chances. She still did all her usual activities, and talked excitedly about the dress she was buying, and teased Seeley about how he was taking her, but she never really brought up prom queen.

She was not elected.

However, as they were handing out awards and Buffy and Seeley stood together, grinning at each other, Jonathan stepped up to the microphone.

"We have one more award to give out. Are Buffy Kemp and Seeley Booth here tonight? Did they...um...This is actually a new category. First time ever. I guess there were a lot of write in ballots and the prom committee asked me to read this.

"We're not good friends. Not really. We've all got a cliques and groups and that's ok. But that doesn't mean we haven't noticed you. Because whenever there was a problem or something bad happened, one, or both, of you seemed to show up and fix it. Most of the people here have been helped by you. We're proud to say that bulling reports have decreased in our class to the lowest rates ever seen. And we know that at least part of that is because of you. So the senior class offers its thanks and gives you, uh... this."

Jonathon held up a tiny umbrella, decorated with gold and sparkling in the stage lights. There was a tiny plaque on the front of it. "It's from all of us," the boy explained, "And it has written here, Buffy and Angel — Class Protectors."

Smiling the two walked up to the stage, hands linked, and Jonathon gave Buffy a slight bow as he handed her the award. Seeley pulled Buffy back into his arms as she began to tear up and gave a nod to Jonathon as he led his fiancé off the stage.

They deposited the award on the table and spent the rest of the evening dancing, but that umbrella came home with them, and had an honored place on a bookcase full of family pictures, trophies and prizes won, and their high school and college degrees.

It stayed there through every move, every argument, and every existential crisis.

Though it was put on a slightly higher shelf when Parker started walking.


	17. The Pursuit of Perfection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah! I don't have any more chapters pre-written! Ah! I must...study for my two upcoming tests...then I shall write.

**To recap the episode:** Brennan and Booth investigate the body parts of a woman found in different locations by Los Angeles International Airport. However, Brennan and her team have trouble identifying the victim when they discover that she had extensive cosmetic surgery done, which altered the core architecture of her skull.

* * *

Booth promised himself as he opened his door that he'd spend less time telling his wife she was beautiful and more time telling her she was intelligent, or kind, or loyal, or funny.

Anything but a comment on her looks, really.

Not that his wife ever really felt inadequate in that department. At least he didn't think she did.

Did she?

"Seeley," the woman in question came down the steps as he locked the front door behind him.

He caught her eyes and smiled, "Buffy."

"How was LA? You catch the bad guy?"

"Do you ever feel not beautiful enough?" he found himself blurting out. Buffy paused on the last step.

"Ummmm….you're going to have to give me some context here."

"This girl, she had so much plastic surgery done, Bones could barely properly reconstruct her face. Angela couldn't draw a sketch- there were about five guesses at what this woman looked like. We had no idea. It was practically impossible to identify her- she'd had surgery down to her bones. Literally. And there were these escorts- and she asked me if I thought she was beautiful as they led her away in cuffs."

"Whoa," his wife responded, holding up her hand, "Escorts?"

He looked up at her (not much- even standing on the step, she was tiny) and gave a smile. "That's what you focused on there?"

"You bet," she retorted, then sighed, "Ok, this is going to be a discussion where we need to sit on the couch."

Seeley obediently followed her into their living room and they settled on their couch, side by side, instead of their usual habit of curling up together. That's when he realized this was a serious talk.

"When I was ten, I think, my mother sat me down to talk about this," she sighed.

"Ten?"

"That was actually pretty old for this discussion. Seeley- have you ever noticed how advertisments use sex to sell, well,  _everything_?"

"Um…I guess so?"

She chuckled, "There's a lot of media out there. TV commercials, magazine articles, posters in the subway and bus stations, movie adverts, book covers even, commercials selling coffee, jewelry, snack foods- and a lot of them use young, beautiful girls, usually heavily photoshopped now, to convince people that having that product will either include having that girl or  _being_  that girl.

"But no amount of jewelry or coffee or snack foods can turn you into that girl. That girl isn't even really that girl. But the pressure to be that girl is very real. You see it all day every day and you begin to think that that girl is not only beautiful, but the norm. You are suddenly very far below average and very undesirable. Because the whole goal is to be desirable, or so you think. And suddenly you see all the commercials for the diets, and the face creams, and the surgeries, and the miracle drugs, and you think that maybe you need them, maybe you could become that girl with them.

"But no one is that girl. That girl does not exist outside a computer and it takes you awhile sometimes to figure that out. And even then, you feel the pressure to be that girl.

"It's a pretty common thing for girls to not feel beautiful enough in this society, Seeley. I wish I could say it doesn't happen till you're older but the fact of it is, it happens pretty much from the moment you start to look at the world around you.

"Society can do terrible things to your insides, and it can make you do pretty terrible things to your outsides as well. We put a large emphasis on being beautiful for women, similar to how there is a high emphasis for men to be strong.

"So when you ask me if I ever feel not beautiful enough, I have to ask you: do you ever feel not strong enough?"

Seeley sat there in silence, absorbing his wife's words in a way that he hadn't really absorbed Bones's protests against the plastic surgery and should've.

Damn. This world was messed up.

"How do we-?" he wasn't even really sure how to finish that question.

"We teach our children better," Buffy responds with a shrug, "We teach them that intelligence and thoughtfulness and loyalty are more important than looks. We teach boys that it's ok to cry and need saving and we teach girls that it's ok to be tough and  _do_  the saving. We teach them all that beauty is an internal thing and that the only person who should decide what you look like is you. The only person with the right to comment on your weight is your doctor. And then we hope for the best."

Seeley gathered his wife to him and held her as he usually did, feeling the strength of her body, the passion of her words still hanging in the air.

"You are so much more than beautiful," he declared to her.

"And you are so much more than strong," she replied. "Now, c'mon. I need you for something."

* * *

Three minutes.

The timer was set for three minutes and in three minutes they'd have a pretty good idea if Buffy was pregnant again.

He looked across the counter at his wife, who was looking calmly at the test she'd just taken and then his eyes darted back to the timer he'd set on his phone.

Two minutes.

Two minutes till she flipped the test over and he'd, hopefully, see a little plus sign. Seeley was tense- they hadn't done this with Parker. By time Buffy had gotten around to checking she went straight to the Doctor's for a blood test. This little at home-test was a first for them. His eyes went to her again- tracing the outline of her face, the upturn of her nose, the edge of her jaw, the way she'd tied her hair back that day. He wanted to memorize this moment on the chance that it was going to be  _the_  moment they got some very big news.

He looked back at the timer.

One minute.

"You know that phrase about a watched pot probably applies to timers as well," his wife's voice broke through his staring competition with his phone.

"How are you so calm right now?"

She shrugs, "I've had more time to get used to it. I started suspecting after you left but decided to wait for the test till you got home."

"Thanks," he tells her, realizing the suspense was probably killing his normally impatient wife, for all she was playing it cool.

Thirty seconds.

"Stop looking at the damn timer," Buffy ordered him, exasperated. After a pause she suggested, "Tell me about the escorts."

"You want me to talk to you about escorts while we wait to find out if we're having our second child?" he asked incredulously.

"Fine," she shrugged, "you pick a topic."

He was saved from such a fate by the timer going off.

Buffy's hand was already at the test before he'd finished shutting off the alarm. She looked up at him, nerves, excitement, love, all in her eyes. "You ready?" she asked.

He gave a nod.

She flipped the test over.

It was the most beautiful little plus sign he had ever seen in his life.

Walking around the counter would take too long, so he jumped up and slid himself over to it, not caring that he'd knocked down a canister containing a bunch of kitchen utensils, and wrapped Buffy up in his arms, kissing every inch of skin he could find. Except, he couldn't stop smiling so it was more pressing his grin into her skin as she giggled and laughed, holding onto him to keep her balance.

"How do you want to tell Parker?" she asked but he was still grinning like an idiot and he was laughing now, so he couldn't find the breath to answer her.

When he did get enough air in his lungs there was only one thing he wanted to say.

"I love you."

Buffy smiled up at him, "I love you, too."

With that he started kissing her again, just as enthusiastically as before.

They were going to have another baby. A bit of him and a bit of her- just about perfect.

* * *

Buffy told him she wanted to get a bloodtest done before telling Parker, and he could agree to that (though he was bursting with the news). So it was about a week later, all told, that they sat Parker down on the couch to talk to him.

Buffy was sitting by their son and Parker immediately cuddled up to his mother while Seeley sat on the coffee table (to Buffy's annoyance) across from the two of them. Or, technically, the three of them, he guessed.

"Hey, buddy, so mommy and I wanted to talk to you about something," he began, and then immediately floundered. Where exactly was he supposed to go from here- he wanted to tell his son the news in such a way that Parker wouldn't be worried about the baby replacing him or being more important than him or god knows what.

"You know how Matt has two little sisters?" Buffy asked their son when Seeley stalled.

Parker nodded his head, "Kristen and Sarah are Matt's sisters," he told them both.

"What would you say to having a little brother or sister of your own?" Buffy asked him, straight to the point.

Seeley was relieved when Parker's eyes lit up, "Can I have a little brother? Matt always gets to tell me what to do since he's older and I wanna be the big one!"

Seeley chuckled, "Well we can't promise a brother, but you should be getting a little brother or sister soon."

"Really?" Parker asked, bouncing, "When? Why can't I have a little brother now? And can't we pick? Girls are yucky."

"Whoa," Buffy giggled, "Girls are yucky?"

"You don't count," Parker told her.

"What about Aunt Willow and Aunt Tara? Or Aunt Anya? Or Kristen and Sarah?"

Parker stalled.

"So girls are only yucky if they're not in your family?" Seeley asked, still chuckling.

Parker evidently decided that was an uncomfortable truth he wasn't ready to face and instead repeated his questions, "When am I getting a little brother or sister? And why can't we get them now?"

"The baby has to grow a bit yet before you can see him or her, Parker," Seeley explained, reaching out and pulling his son into his own lap so the two of them faced Buffy. "The baby is inside mommy right now, growing so they can come out and see us."

Buffy thought Parker's eyes would pop out of his head.

"How'd it get in there?" he asked.

Buffy started laughing as soon as she registered Seeley's face at the question.

"Uh- wanna take this one oh counselor-mommy?" he asked her.

"Well, in this case," Buffy began, clearly struggling to find the correct words she wanted to say- Parker was only four so the whole discussion should really be tabled for a later date, "Because mommy and daddy loved each other, daddy took a piece of him, and mommy took a piece of her, and we combined it to make a baby, but the baby had to be made inside mommy."

"It's like a lab, Parker," Seeley, said, lighting on the idea due to his son's love of the Jeffersonian, "You know how you do experiments in a lab? How that's where you make all the cool things? Mommy has a little baby-lab inside of her."

Parker was enamored enough with the explanation that he didn't realize they failed to actually explain the mechanics of it all.

"Now," Buffy said, leaning forward, "Here comes the fun part. Do you want to call Aunt Willow and tell her you're going to have a baby brother or sister? Daddy already called dibs on telling Pops, and I called dibs on telling Grandpa, but do you want to tell everyone else for us?"

Did Parker want to tell everyone?

Seeley realized it was kind of a dumb question.

* * *

Parker planned an elaborate party to tell everyone (in reality, it would probably just be tomorrow when everyone came over- because everyone always seemed to end up in the Booth's house) and it was an entire two hours before Buffy and Seeley were able to settle him into bed.

Booth planned on telling his Pops in person himself, but there was one significant family member would have to receive the news on the phone.

Buffy dialed her father's number as Seeley left the room, figuring she'd want some privacy with her father (he planned on telling his Pops one-on-one, and knew he'd made the right choice when Buffy gave him a grateful smile).

He finished cleaning up the last remnants of dinner, grinning, as he listened to his wife's light laughter as she spoke with her father, who was no doubt trying to get a plane ticket as they spoke.

He may tease Buffy about how involved her whole family is, but he found himself, not for the first time, intensely grateful for all of them and their strange co-dependence.

After all, he would take all the extra pairs of hands he could get when dealing with a hormonal Buffy.


	18. Blood Ties

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm back...and slightly brain dead after four tests in as many school days. Before you ask: yes, this chapter IS named after the Buffy episode. I wanted an episode about family and blood (because...well, obvious reasons). And also yes, Parker's middle name is for Xander. (He's Buffy's kid too, ya know.)
> 
> So here we go!

Buffy went into labor in the middle of the afternoon on a crisp October day, and, at the start, merely winced and said "ow."

Seeley immediately freaked out, and used his siren to break the speed limit to the hospital as Buffy lectured him that she wasn't even sure it was real labor and not Braxton-Hicks.

Seeley couldn't bring himself to much care.

* * *

An hour later, Buffy was well past "ow" and on to "holy shit."

Seeley was wise enough not to say "I told you so."

Giles was already visiting from England since the baby was due any day, so Xander was called and told to pick everyone up and get them to the hospital.

* * *

Two hours and a quick visit from Xander (who decided rapidly he should keep Matt in the waiting room and out of the way of Buffy, who was expanding her nephew's vocabulary rapidly) later Buffy was at "fuck."

* * *

Three hours and a visit from Rupert (who was kicked out when his daughter informed him she did  _not_  want her father in the same room while she was in labor) after  _that_  Buffy had Seeley and Willow's hands in a death grip as the two sat on either side of her, and Tara encouraged that it'd be over soon.

The Doctor was kind enough to inform them that labor was just getting started.

* * *

Four hours and a visit from Anya (who Seeley kicked out because her recounting of her labor with Matt was doing Buffy more harm than good) after that and Buffy was swearing never to let Seeley touch her again, and Seeley was losing feeling in his hand but wisely decided not to complain.

* * *

The Doctor finally told them an hour later, a grand total of eleven hours after Buffy's first "ow," that Active Labor was beginning and Buffy could start to push soon.

* * *

Four hours later, the Doctor was checking Buffy, saying she was in Transition and Willow was getting her hand looked at by another Doctor with Tara. Seeley was fairly certain Buffy had deep-tissue bruised his hand, but kept silent after a particularly creative curse on his wife's part.

Finally, Buffy was told to push and she began to sob.

This, again, caused Seeley to immediately freak out. However, after an epic total of fifteen hours since Buffy first winced, his nerves expressed themselves in the form of a nervous laugh.

His wife (whom he was sure had been replaced by some sort of pod person in the intervening hours of labor) glared at him and gave him one warning.

"You laugh again and I will rip your fucking face off."

He did not laugh again.

* * *

Until an hour later when a little baby boy, perfect and screaming, was placed in his arms.

He didn't really think Buffy would mind.

"What should we name him?" Buffy asked after the various Doctors and nurses had stopped swarming both her and the infant, cleaning everything up and checking that both mother and baby were healthy (if a bit woozy from sixteen hours labor).

Seeley swallowed roughly before asking, "I was thinking- since he's a boy- would you mind if we used Parker?"

Buffy just smiled, taking the baby out of Seeley's arms and settling him into her own, "Hello, Parker Alexander Booth," she smiled, "It's great to finally meet you."

* * *

It was three hours later when Seeley finally got his hand looked at and was told that his wife had broken in.

Looking at Parker, he couldn't say it wasn't worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd already written that Buffy almost broke Willow's hand while in labor and actually DID break Seeley's, but I decided (tbh, for no actual reason than it's what popped into my head and I wanted the itty bitty scene of them naming Parker) to write out this bit. And before anyone questions the realism of sixteen hours of labor- let me inform you, for a woman giving birth for the first time: sixteen hours is AVERAGE. Yup. AVERAGE. Now, go and thank your mothers (ESPECIALLY if you're the first born, cuz chances are that means you were also the most difficult). I'm probably going to call mine after posting this.
> 
> And- fun fact, the rip-your-face-off line? That's something my own mother actually said to my dad when she was in labor with me (he has a nervous laugh that my mother did not appreciate at the time).
> 
> Review?


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